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HISTORY 


JULIUS    C  M  S  A  R, 


BY   JACOB   ABBOTT. 


Hi)  Hnavabtufls. 


N E  W    YORK 


HARPER   &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHER; 

B  2   CLIFF    STREET 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty -nine,  by 

Harper  &  Brothers, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  the  object  of  this  series  of  histories  to 
present  a  clear,  distinct,  and  connected  narra- 
tive of  the  lives  of  those  great  personages  who 
have  in  various  ages  of  the  world  made  them- 
selves celebrated  as  leaders  among  mankind, 
and,  by  the  part  they  have  taken  in  the  public 
affairs  of  great  nations,  have  exerted  the  widest 
influence  on  the  history  of  the  human  race. 
The  end  which  the  author  has  had  in  view  is 
twofold:  first,  to  communicate  such  informa- 
tion in  respect  to  the  subjects  of  his  narratives 
as  is  important  for  the  general  reader  to  possess; 
and,  secondly,  to  draw  such  moral  lessons  from 
the  events  described  and  the  characters  deline- 
ated as  they  may  legitimately  teach  to  the  peo- 
ple of  the  present  age.     Though  written  in  a 
direct  and  simple  style,  they  are  intended  for, 
and  addressed  to.  minds  possessed  of  some  con- 


viii  Preface. 

siderable  degree  of  maturity,  for  such  minds 
only  can  fully  appreciate  the  character  and  ac- 
tion which  exhibits  itself,  as  nearly  all  that  is 
described  in  these  volumes  does,  in  close  com- 
bination with  the  conduct  and  policy  of  govern- 
ments, and  the  great  events  of  international 
history. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  Page 

I.    MARIUS   AND  SYLLA 13 

ii.  Cesar's  early  years 35 

III.  ADVANCEMENT    TO    THE    CONSULSHIP 58 

IV.  THE    CONQUEST    OF   GAUL. 82 

V.    POMPEY 107 

VI.    CROSSING    THE    RUBICON 129 

VII.    THE    BATTLE    OF    PHARSALIA 154 

VIII.    FLIGHT    AND    DEATH    OF    POMPEY 171 

IX.    CESAR  IN   EGYPT- 193 

X.    CESAR  IMPERATOR 213 

XI.    THE    CONSPIRACY 235 

XII.    THE  ASSASSINATION 255 


JULIUS   C^SAR. 

Chapter   I. 
Marius  and   Sylla. 


The  three  great  European  nations  of  antiquity.  Alexander. 

fTlHERE  were  three  great  European  nations 
-*■  in  ancient  days,  each  of  which  furnished 
history  with  a  hero :  the  Greeks,  the  Cartha- 
ginians, and  the  Romans. 

Alexander  was  the  hero  of  the  Greeks.  He 
was  King  of  Macedon,  a  country  lying  north 
of  Greece  proper.  He  headed  an  army  of  his 
countrymen,  and  made  an  excursion  for  con- 
quest and  glory  into  Asia.  He  made  himself 
master  of  all  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  and 
reigned  over  it  in  Babylon,  till  he  brought  him- 
self to  an  early  grave  by  the  excesses  into  which 
his  boundless  prosperity  allured  him.  His  fame 
rests  on  his  triumphant  success  in  building  up 
for  himself  so  vast  an  empire,  and  the  admira- 
tion which  his  career  has  always  excited  among 
mankind  is  heightened  by  the  consideration  of 


14  Julius  Cm bar.        [B.C.  100. 

Hannibal.  His  terrible  energy.  Julius  Caesar. 

his  youth,  and  of  the  noble  and  generous  im- 
pulses which  strongly  marked  his  character. 

The  Carthaginian  hero  was  Hannibal.  We 
class  the  Carthaginians  among  the  European 
nations  of  antiquity ;  for,  in  respect  to  their  ori- 
gin, their  civilization,  and  all  their  commercial 
and  political  relations,  they  belonged  to  the  Eu- 
ropean race,  though  it  is  true  that  their  capital 
was  on  the  African  side  of  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  Hannibal  was  the  great  Carthaginian 
hero.  He  earned  his  fame  by  the  energy  and 
implacableness  of  his  hate.  The  work  of  his 
life  was  to  keep  a  vast  empire  in  a  state  of  con- 
tinual anxiety  and  terror  for  fifty  years,  so  that 
his  claim  to  greatness  and  glory  rests  on  the  de- 
termination, the  perseverance,  and  the  success 
with  which  he  fulfilled  his  function  of  being, 
while  he  lived,  the  terror  of  the  world. 

The  Roman  hero  was  Caesar.  He  was  born 
just  one  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era. 
His  renown  does  not  depend,  like  that  of  Alex- 
ander, on  foreign  conquests,  nor,  like  that  of  Han- 
nibal, on  the  terrible  energy  of  his  aggressions 
upon  foreign  foes,  but  upon  his  protracted  and 
dreadful  contests  with,  and  ultimate  triumphs 
over,  his  rivals  and  competitors  at  home.  When 
he  appeared  upon  the  stage,  the  Roman  empire 


B.C.  100.]    Marius  and   Sylla.  15 

The  ancient  Roman  empire.  The  provinces. 

already  included  nearly  all  of  the  world  that 
was  worth  possessing.  There  were  no  more 
conquests  to  be  made.  Caesar  did,  indeed,  en- 
large, in  some  degree,  the  boundaries  of  the  em- 
pire ;  but  the  main  question  in  his  day  was, 
who  should  possess  the  power  which  preceding 
conquerors  had  acquired. 

The  Roman  empire,  as  it  existed  in  those 
days,  must  not  be  conceived  of  by  the  reader 
as  united  together  under  one  compact  and  con- 
solidated government.  It  was,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  vast  congeries  of  nations,  widely  dissim- 
ilar in  every  respect  from  each  other,  speaking 
various  languages,  and  having  various  customs 
and  laws.  They  were  all,  however,  more  or 
less  dependent  upon,  and  connected  with,  the 
great  central  power.  Some  of  these  countries 
were  provinces,  and  were  governed  by  officers 
appointed  and  sent  out  by  the  authorities  at 
Rome.  These  governors  had  to  collect  the  tax- 
es of  their  provinces,  and  also  to  preside  over 
and  direct,  in  many  important  respects,  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  They  had,  according- 
ly, abundant  opportunities  to  enrich  themselves 
in  their  provinces,  by  collecting  more  money 
than  they  paid  over  to  the  government  at  home, 
and  bv  taking  bribes  to  favor  the  rich  man's 


16  Julius  C^sar.         [B.C.  100. 

Foreign  wars.  The  victorious  general. 

cause  in  court.  Thus  the  more  wealthy  and 
prosperous  provinces  were  objects  of  great  com- 
petition among  aspirants  for  office  at  Rome. 
Leading  men  would  get  these  appointments, 
and,  after  remaining  long  enough  in  their  prov- 
inces to  acquire  a  fortune,  would  come  back  to 
Rome,  and  expend  it  in  intrigues  and  maneu- 
vers to  obtain  higher  offices  still. 

Whenever  there  was  any  foreign  war  to  be 
carried  on  with  a  distant  nation  or  tribe,  there 
was  always  a  great  eagerness  among  all  the 
military  officers  of  the  state  to  be  appointed  to 
the  command.  They  each  felt  sure  that  they 
should  conquer  in  the  contest,  and  they  could 
enrich  themselves  still  more  rapidly  by  the 
spoils  of  victory  in  war,  than  by  extortion  and 
bribes  in  the  government  of  a  province  in  peace. 
Then,  besides,  a  victorious  general  coming  back 
to  Rome  always  found  that  his  military  renown 
added  vastly  to  his  influence  and  power  in  the 
city.  He  was  welcomed  with  celebrations  and 
triumphs  ;  the  people  flocked  to  see  him  and  to 
shout  his  praise.  He  placed  his  trophies  of  vic- 
tory in  the  temples,  and  entertained  the  popu- 
lace with  games  and  shows,  and  with  combats 
of  gladiators  or  of  wild  beasts,  which  he  had 
brought  home  with  him  for  this  purpose  in  the 


B.C.  100.1    Marius  and   Sylla.  17 


Military  rivals.  Marius  and  Sylla. 

train  of  his  army.  While  he  was  thus  enjoy- 
ing his  triumph,  his  political  enemies  would  be 
thrown  into  the  back  ground  and  into  the  shade ; 
unless,  indeed,  some  one  of  them  might  himself 
be  earning  the  same  honors  in  some  other  field, 
to  come  back  in  due  time,  and  claim  his  share 
of  power  and  celebrity  in  his  turn.  In  this  case, 
Rome  would  be  sometimes  distracted  and  rent 
by  the  conflicts  and  contentions  of  military  ri- 
vals, who  had  acquired  powers  too  vast  for  all 
the  civil  influences  of  the  Republic  to  regulate 
or  control. 

There  had  been  two  such  rivals  just  before 
the  time  of  Csesar,  who  had  filled  the  world  with 
their  quarrels.  They  were  Marius  and  Sylla. 
Their  very  names  have  been,  in  all  ages  of  the 
world,  since  their  day,  the  symbols  of  rivalry 
and  hate.  They  were  the  representatives  re- 
spectively of  the  two  great  parties  into  which 
the  Roman  state,  like  every  other  community 
in  which  the  population  at  large  have  any  voice 
in  governing,  always  has  been,  and  probably  al- 
ways will  be  divided,  the  upper  and  the  lower ; 
or,  as  they  were  called  in  those  days,  the  patri- 
cian and  the  plebeian.  Sylla  was  the  patrician ; 
the  higher  and  more  aristocratic  portions  of  the 
community  were  on  his  side.  Marius  was  the 
B 


18  Julius   C,esar.         [B.C.  100. 

The  patricians  and  plebeians.  Civil  contests. 

favorite  of  the  plebeian  masses.    In  the  contests, 
however,  which  they  waged  with  each  other, 


Roman  Plebeians. 

they  did  not  trust  to  the  mere  influence  of  votes. 
They  relied  much  more  upon  the  soldiers  they 
could  gather  under  their  respective  standards, 
and  upon  their  power  of  intimidating,  by  means 
of  them,  the  Roman  assemblies.     There  was  a 


B.C.  100.]    Mabius  and   Sylla. 


19 


Quarrel  about  the  command  of  the  army. Sylla'a  violence. 

war  to  be  waged  with  Mithridates,  a  very  pow- 
erful Asiatic  monarch,  which  promised  great  op- 
portunities   for    acquiring   fame    and    plunder. 
Sylla  was  appointed  to  the  command.     While 
he  was  absent,  however,  upon  some  campaign 
in  Italy,  Marius  contrived  to  have  the  decision 
reversed,  and  the  command  transferred  to  him. 
Two  officers,  called  tribunes,  were  sent  to  Syl- 
la's camp  to  inform  him  of  the  change.     Sylla 
killed  the  officers  for  daring  to  bring  him  such 
a  message,  and  began  immediately  to  march  to- 
ward Rome.     In  retaliation  for  the  murder  of 
the  tribunes,  the  party  of  Marius  in  the  city 
killed  some  of  Sylla's  prominent  friends  there, 
and  a  general  alarm  spread  itself  throughout 
the  population.     The  Senate,  which  was  a  sort 
of  House  of  Lords,  embodying  mainly  the  pow- 
er and  influence  of  the  patrician  party,  and  was, 
of  course,  on  Sylla's  side,  sent  out  to  him,  when 
he  had  arrived  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city, 
urging  him  to  come  no  further.     He  pretended 
to  comply;   he  marked  out  the  ground  for   a 
camp  ;  but  he  did  not,  on  that  account,  materi- 
ally delay  his  march.     The  next  morning  he 
was  in  possession  of  the  city.     The  friends  of 
Marius  attempted  to  resist  him,  by  throwing 
stones  upon  his  troops  from  the  roofs  of  the 


20 

Julius  Cesar. 

[B.C.  100. 

Defeat  of  Marias. 

His  flight. 

houses.  Sylla  ordered  every  house  from  which 
these  symptoms  of  resistance  appeared  to  be  set 
on  fire.  Thus  the  whole  population  of  a  vast 
and  wealthy  city  were  thrown  into  a  condition 
of  extreme  danger  and  terror,  by  the  conflicts 
of  two  great  bands  of  armed  men,  each  claim- 
ing to  be  their  friends. 

Marius  was  conquered  in  this  struggle,  and 
fled  for  his  life.  Many  of  the  friends  whom  he 
left  behind  him  were  killed.  The  Senate  were 
assembled,  and,  at  Sylla's  orders,  a  decree  was 
passed  declaring  Marius  a  public  enemy,  and 
offering  a  reward  to  any  one  who  would  bring 
his  head  back  to  Rome. 

Marius  fled,  friendless  and  alone,  to  the  south- 
ward, hunted  every  where  by  men  who  were 
eager  to  get  the  reward  offered  for  his  head. 
After  various  romantic  adventures  and  narrow 
escapes,  he  succeeded  in  making  his  way  across 
the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  found  at  last  a  ref- 
uge in  a  hut  among  the  ruins  of  Carthage.  He 
was  an  old  man,  being  now  over  seventy  years 
of  age. 

Of  course,  Sylla  thought  that  his  great  rival 
and  enemy  was  now  finally  disposed  of,  and  he 
accordingly  began  to  make  preparations  for  his 
Asiatic  campaign.     He  raised  his  army,  built 


B.C.  100.]    Marius  and   Sylla.  21 

Return  of  Marius.  He  marches  against  Rome. 

and  equipped  a  fleet,  and  went  away.  As  soon 
as  he  was  gone,  Marius's  friends  in  the  city  be- 
gan to  come  forth,  and  to  take  measures  for  re- 
instating themselves  in  power.  Marius  return- 
ed, too,  from  Africa,  and  soon  gathered  about 
him  a  large  army.  Being  the  friend,  as  he  pre- 
tended, of  the  lower  classes  of  society,  he  col- 
lected vast  multitudes  of  revolted  slaves,  out- 
laws, and  other  desperadoes,  and  advanced  to- 
ward Rome.  He  assumed,  himself,  the  dress, 
and  air,  and  savage  demeanor  of  his  followers. 
His  countenance  had  been  rendered  haggard 
and  cadaverous  partly  by  the  influence  of  ex- 
posures, hardships,  and  suffering  upon  his  ad- 
vanced age,  and  partly  by  the  stern  and  moody 
plans  and  determinations  of  revenge  which  his 
mind  was  perpetually  revolving.  He  listened 
to  the  deputations  which  the  Roman  Senate  sent 
out  to  him  from  time  to  time,  as  he  advanced 
toward  the  city,  but  refused  to  make  any  terms. 
He  moved  forward  with  all  the  outward  delib- 
eration and  calmness  suitable  to  his  years,  while 
all  the  ferocity  of  a  tiger  was  burning  within. 

As  soon  as  he  had  gained  possession  of  the 
city,  he  began  his  work  of  destruction.  He  first 
beheaded  one  of  the  consuls,  and  ordered  his 
head  to  be  set  up,  as  a  public  spectacle,  in  the 


22  Julius   C^sar.         [B.C.  100. 

Executions  by  order  of  Marius.  The  Tarpeian  Rock. 

most  conspicuous  place  in  the  city.  This  was 
the  beginning.  All  the  prominent  friends  of 
Sylla,  men  of  the  highest  rank  and  station, 
were  then  killed,  wherever  they  could  be  found, 
without  sentence,  without  trial,  without  any 
other  accusation,  even,  than  the  military  decis- 
ion of  Marius  that  they  were  his  enemies,  and 
must  die.  For  those  against  whom  he  felt  any 
special  animosity,  he  contrived  some  special 
mode  of  execution.  One,  whose  fate  he  wish- 
ed particularly  to  signalize,  was  thrown  down 
from  the  Tarpeian  Rock. 

The  Tarpeian  Rock  was  a  precipice  about 
fifty  feet  high,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  Rome, 
from  which  the  worst  of  state  criminals  were 
sometimes  thrown.  They  were  taken  up  to  the 
top  by  a  stair,  and  were  then  hurled  from  the 
summit,  to  die  miserably,  writhing  in  agony  aft- 
er their  fall,  upon  the  rocks  below. 

The  Tarpeian  Rock  received  its  name  from 
the  ancient  story  of  Tarpeia.  The  tale  is,  that 
Tarpeia  was  a  Roman  girl,  who  lived  at  a  time 
in  the  earliest  periods  of  the  Roman  history, 
when  the  city  was  besieged  by  an  army  from 
one  of  the  neighboring  nations.  Besides  their 
shields,  the  story  is  that  the  soldiers  had  gold- 
en bracelets  upon  their   arms.     They  wished 


B.C.  100.]    Marius  and  Sylla.  23 

The  story  of  Tarpeia.  Subterranean  passages. 

Tarpeia  to  open  the  gates  and  let  them  in. 
She  promised  to  do  so  if  they  would  give  her 
their  bracelets ;  but,  as  she  did  not  know  the 
name  of  the  shining  ornaments,  the  language 
she  used  to  designate  them  was,  "  Those  things 
you  have  upon  your  arms."  The  soldiers  ac- 
ceded to  her  terms ;  she  opened  the  gates,  and 
they,  instead  of  giving  her  the  bracelets,  threw 
their  shields  upon  her  as  they  passed,  until  the 
poor  girl  was  crushed  down  with  them  and  de- 
stroyed. This  was  near  the  Tarpeian  Rock, 
which  afterward  took  her  name.  The  rock  is 
now  found  to  be  perforated  by  a  great  many 
subterranean  passages,  the  remains,  probably, 
of  ancient  quarries.  Some  of  these  galleries 
are  now  walled  up ;  others  are  open ;  and  the 
people  who  live  around  the  spot  believe,  it  is 
said,  to  this  day,  that  Tarpeia  herself  sits,  en- 
chanted, far  in  the  interior  of  these  caverns, 
covered  with  gold  and  jewels,  but  that  whoev- 
er attempts  to  find  her  is  fated  by  an  irresisti- 
ble destiny  to  lose  his  way,  and  he  never  re- 
turns. The  last  story  is  probably  as  true  as 
the  other. 

Marius  continued  his  executions  and  massa- 
cres until  the  whole  of  Sylla's  party  had  been 
slain  or  put  to  flight.     He  made  every  effort  to 


24  Julius  Cesar.         [B.C.  100. 

Escape  of  Sylla's  wife.  Illness  of  Marios; 

discover  Sylla's  wife  and  child,  with  a  view  to 
destroying  them  also,  but  they  could  not  be 
found.  Some  friends  of  Sylla,  taking  compas- 
sion on  their  innocence  and  helplessness,  con- 
cealed them,  and  thus  saved  Marius  from  the 
commission  of  one  intended  crime.  Marius 
was  disappointed,  too,  in  some  other  cases, 
where  men  whom  he  had  intended  to  kill  de- 
stroyed themselves  to  baffle  his  vengeance. 
One  shut  himself  up  in  a  room  with  burning 
charcoal,  and  was  suffocated  with  the  fumes. 
Another  bled  himself  to  death  upon  a  public 
altar,  calling  down  the  judgments  of  the  god  to 
whom  he  offered  this  dreadful  sacrifice  upon  the 
head  of  the  tyrant  whose  atrocious  cruelty  he 
was  thus  attempting  to  evade. 

By  the  time  that  Marius  had  got  fairly  es- 
tablished in  his  new  position,  and  was  com- 
pletely master  of  Rome,  and  the  city  had  be- 
gun to  recover  a  little  from  the  shock  and  con- 
sternation produced  by  his  executions,  he  fell 
sick.  He  was  attacked  with  an  acute  disease 
of  great  violence.  The  attack  was  perhaps  pro- 
duced, and  was  certainly  aggravated  by,  the 
great  mental  excitements  through  which  he 
had  passed  during  his  exile,  and  in  the  entire 
change  of  fortune  which  had  attended  his  re- 


B.C.  100.]    Marius  and   Sylla.  25 

Sylla  outlawed.  Marius  delirious. 

turn.  From  being  a  wretched  fugitive,  hiding 
for  his  life  among  gloomy  and  desolate  ruins, 
he  found  himself  suddenly  transferred  to  the 
mastery  of  the  world.  His  mind  was  excited, 
too,  in  respect  to  Sylla,  whom  he  had  not  yet 
reached  or  subdued,  but  who  was  still  prosecu- 
ting his  war  against  Mithridates.  Marius  had 
had  him  pronounced  by  the  Senate  an  enemy  to 
his  country,  and  was  meditating  plans  to  reach 
him  in  his  distant  province,  considering  his  tri- 
umph incomplete  as  long  as  his  great  rival  was 
at  liberty  and  alive.  The  sickness  cut  short 
these  plans,  but  it  only  inflamed  to  double  vio- 
lence the  excitement  and  the  agitations  which 
attended  them. 

As  the  dying  tyrant  tossed  restlessly  upon 
his  bed,  it  was  plain  that  the  delirious  ravings 
which  he  began  soon  to  utter  were  excited  by 
the  same  sentiments  of  insatiable  ambition  and 
ferocious  hate  whose  calmer  dictates  he  had 
obeyed  when  well.  He  imagined  that  he  had 
succeeded  in  supplanting  Sylla  in  his  command, 
and  that  he  was  himself  in  Asia  at  the  head  of 
his  armies.  Impressed  with  this  idea,  he  stared 
wildly  around ;  he  called  aloud  the  name  of  Mith- 
ridates ;  he  shouted  orders  to  imaginary  troops ; 
he  struggled  to  break  away  from  the  restraints 


26 

Julius  Caesar. 

[B.C.  100. 

Death  of  Marina. 

Return  of  Sylla. 

which  the  attendants  about  his  bedside  impos- 
ed, to  attack  the  phantom  foes  which  haunted 
him  in  his  dreams.  This  continued  for  several 
days,  and  when  at  last  nature  was  exhausted 
by  the  violence  of  these  paroxysms  of  phrensy, 
the  vital  powers  which  had  been  for  seventy  long 
years  spending  their  strength  in  deeds  of  self- 
ishness, cruelty,  and  hatred,  found  their  work 
done,  and  sunk  to  revive  no  more. 

Marius  left  a  son,  of  the  same  name  with  him- 
self, who  attempted  to  retain  his  father's  pow- 
er ;  but  Sylla,  having  brought  his  war  with 
Mithridates  to  a  conclusion,  was  now  on  his  re- 
turn from  Asia,  and  it  was  very  evident  that  a 
terrible  conflict  was  about  to  ensue.  Sylla  ad- 
vanced triumphantly  through  the  country,  while 
Marius  the  younger  and  his  partisans  concen- 
trated their  forces  about  the  city,  and  prepared 
for  defense.  The  people  of  the  city  were  di- 
vided, the  aristocratic  faction  adhering  to  the 
cause  of  Sylla,  while  the  democratic  influences 
sided  with  Marius.  Political  parties  rise  and 
fall,  in  almost  all  ages  of  the  world,  in  alternate 
fluctuations,  like  those  of  the  tides.  The  fac- 
tion of  Marius  had  been  for  some  time  in  the 
ascendency,  and  it  was  now  its  turn  to  fall. 
Sylla  found,  therefore,  as  he  advanced,  every 


B.C.  100.]    Marius  and   Svlla.  27 

Marius's  son.  Proscriptions  and  massacres  of  Sylla. 

thing  favorable  to  the  restoration  of  his  own 
party  to  power.  He  destroyed  the  armies  which 
came  out  to  oppose  him.  He  shut  up  the  young 
Marius  in  a  city  not  far  from  Rome,  where  he 
had  endeavored  to  find  shelter  and  protection, 
and  then  advanced  himself  and  took  possession 
of  the  city.  There  he  caused  to  be  enacted 
again  the  horrid  scenes  of  massacre  and  mur- 
der which  Marius  had  perpetrated  before,  going, 
however,  as  much  beyond  the  example  which 
he  followed  as  men  usually  do  in  the  commis- 
sion of  crime.  He  gave  out  lists  of  the  names 
of  men  whom  he  wished  to  have  destroyed,  and 
these  unhappy  victims  of  his  revenge  were  to 
be  hunted  out  by  bands  of  reckless  soldiers,  in 
their  dwellings,  or  in  the  places  of  public  resort 
in  the  city,  and  dispatched  by  the  sword  wher- 
ever they  could  be  found.  The  scenes  which 
these  deeds  created  in  a  vast  and  populous  city 
can  scarcely  be  conceived  of  by  those  who  have 
never  witnessed  the  horrors  produced  by  the 
massacres  of  civil  war.  Sylla  himself  went 
through  with  this  work  in  the  most  cool  and 
unconcerned  manner,  as  if  he  were  performing 
the  most  ordinary  duties  of  an  officer  of  state. 
He  called  the  Senate  together  one  day,  and, 
while  he  was  addressing  them.,  the  attention  of 


28  Julius  Caesar.         [B.C.  100. 

Executions.  Extent  of  Sylla's  proscriptions. 

the  Assembly  was  suddenly  distracted  by  the 
noise  of  outcries  and  screams  in  the  neighbor- 
ing streets  from  those  who  were  suffering  mili- 
tary execution  there.  The  senators  started 
with  horror  at  the  sound.  Sylla,  with  an  air 
of  great  composure  and  unconcern,  directed  the 
members  to  listen  to  him,  and  to  pay  no  atten- 
tion to  What  was  passing  elsewhere.  The 
sounds  that  they  heard  were,  he  said,  only 
some  correction  which  was  bestowed  by  his  or- 
ders on  certain  disturbers  of  the  public  peace. 

Sylla's  orders  for  the  execution  of  those  who 
had  taken  an  active  part  against  him  were  not 
confined  to  Rome.  They  went  to  the  neigh- 
boring cities  and  to  distant  provinces,  carrying 
terror  and  distress  every  where.  Still,  dread- 
ful as  these  evils  were,  it  is  possible  for  us,  in 
the  conceptions  which  we  form,  to  overrate  the 
extent  of  them.  In  reading  the  history  of  the 
Roman  empire  during  the  civil  wars  of  Mari- 
us  and  Sylla,  one  might  easily  imagine  that 
the  whole  population  of  the  country  was  organ- 
ized into  the  two  contending  armies,  and  were 
employed  wholly  in  the  work  of  fighting  with 
and  massacring  each  other.  But  nothing  like 
this  can  be  true.  It  is  obviously  but  a  small 
part,  after  all,  of  an  extended  community  that 


B.C.  82.]      Marius  and  Sylla.  29 

Man's  nature.  Husbandmen. 

can  be  ever  actively  and  personally  engaged  in 
these  deeds  of  violence  and  blood.  Man  is  not 
naturally  a  ferocious  wild  beast.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  loves,  ordinarily,  to  live  in  peace  and 
quietness,  to  till  his  lands  and  tend  his  flocks, 
and  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace  and  repose. 
It  is  comparatively  but  a  small  number  in  any 
age  of  the  world,  and  in  any  nation,  whose  pas- 
sions of  ambition,  hatred,  or  revenge  become 
so  strong  as  that  they  love  bloodshed  and  war. 
But  these  few,  when  they  once  get  weapons 
into  their  hands,  trample  recklessly  and  merci- 
lessly upon  the  rest.  One  ferocious  human  ti- 
ger, with  a  spear  or  a  bayonet  to  brandish,  will 
tyrannize  as  he  pleases  over  a  hundred  quiet 
men,  who  are  armed  only  with  shepherds' 
crooks,  and  whose  only  desire  is  to  live  in 
peace  with  their  wives  and  their  children. 

Thus,  while  Marius  and  Sylla,  with  some 
hundred  thousand  armed  and  reckless  followers, 
were  carrying  terror  and  dismay  wherever  they 
went,  there  were  many  millions  of  herdsmen 
and  husbandmen  in  the  Roman  world  who  were 
dwelling  in  all  the  peace  and  quietness  they 
could  command,  improving  with  their  peaceful 
industry  every  acre  where  corn  would  ripen  or 
grass  grow.     It  was  by  taxing  and  plundering 


30  Julius   Cjesar.  [B.C.  82. 

How  the  Roman  edifices  were  built  Standing  armies. 

the  proceeds  of  this  industry  that  the  generals 
and  soldiers,  the  consuls  and  prsetors,  and  pro- 
consuls and  propraetors,  filled  their  treasuries, 
and  fed  their  troops,  and  paid  the  artisans  for 
fabricating  their  arms.  With  these  avails  they 
built  the  magnificent  edifices  of  Rome,  and 
adorned  its  environs  with  sumptuous  villas. 
As  they  had  the  power  and  the  arms  in  their 
hands,  the  peaceful  and  the  industrious  had  no 
alternative  but  to  submit.  They  went  on  as 
well  as  they  could  with  their  labors,  bearing 
patiently  every  interruption,  returning  again 
to  till  their  fields  after  the  desolating  march  of 
the  army  had  passed  away,  and  repairing  the 
injuries  of  violence,  and  the  losses  sustained  by 
plunder,  without  useless  repining.  They  look- 
ed upon  an  armed  government  as  a  necessary 
and  inevitable  affliction  of  humanity,  and  sub- 
mitted to  its  destructive  violence  as  they  would 
submit  to  an  earthquake  or  a  pestilence.  The 
tillers  of  the  soil  manage  better  in  this  country 
at  the  present  day.  They  have  the  power  in 
their  own  hands,  and  they  watch  very  narrow- 
ly to  prevent  the  organization  of  such  hordes 
of  armed  desperadoes  as  have  held  the  peaceful 
inhabitants  of  Europe  in  terror  from  the  earli- 
est periods  down  to  the  present  day. 


B.C.82.]      Marius  and   Sylla.  31 

Julius  Csesar.  Sylla's  animosity  against  him. 

When  Sylla  returned  to  Rome,  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  supreme  power  there,  in  looking 
over  the  lists  of  public  men,  there  was  one  whom 
he  did  not  know  at  first  what  to  do  with.  It 
was  the  young  Julius  Csesar,  the  subject  of  this 
history.  Csesar  was,  by  birth,  patrician,  having 
descended  from  a  long  line  of  noble  ancestors. 
There  had  been,  before  his  day,  a  great  many 
Csesars  who  had  held  the  highest  offices  of  the 
state,  and  many  of  them  had  been  celebrated  in 
history.  He  naturally,  therefore,  belonged  to 
Sylla's  side,  as  Sylla  was  the  representative  of 
the  patrician  interest.  But  then  Csesar  had 
personally  been  inclined  toward  the  party  of 
Marius.  The  elder  Marius  had  married  his 
aunt,  and,  besides,  Csesar  himself  had  married 
the  daughter  of  China,  who  had  been  the  most 
efficient  and  powerful  of  Marius' s  coadjutors  and 
friends.  Csesar  was  at  this  time  a  very  young 
man,  and  he  was  of  an  ardent  and  reckless  char- 
acter, though  he  had,  thus  far,  taken  no  active 
part  in  public  affairs.  Sylla  overlooked  him 
for  a  time,  but  at  length  was  about  to  put  his 
name  on  the  list  of  the  proscribed.  Some  of  the 
nobles,  who  were  friends  both  of  Sylla  and  of 
Csesar  too,  interceded  for  the  young  man ;  Sylla 
yielded  to  their  request,  or,  rather,  suspended 


32  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.  82. 

Caesar  refuses  to  repudiate  his  wife.  His  flight. 

his  decision,  and  sent  orders  to  Csesar  to  repudi- 
ate his  wife,  the  daughter  of  China.  Her  name 
was  Cornelia.  Csesar  absolutely  refused  to  re- 
pudiate his  wife.  ,  He  was  influenced  in  this 
decision  partly  by  affection  for  Cornelia,  and 
partly  by  a  sort  of  stern  and  indomitable  in- 
submissiveness,  which  formed,  from  his  earliest 
years,  a  prominent  trait  in  his  character,  and 
which  led  him,  during  all  his  life,  to  brave  every 
possible  danger  rather  than  allow  himself  to  be 
controlled.  Csesar  knew  very  well  that,  when 
this  his  refusal  should  be  reported  to  Sylla,  the 
next  order  would  be  for  his  destruction.  He 
accordingly  fled.  Sylla  deprived  him  of  his 
titles  and  offices,  confiscated  his  wife's  fortune 
and  his  own  patrimonial  estate,  and  put  his 
name  upon  the  list  of  the  public  enemies.  Thus 
Csesar  became  a  fugitive  and  an  exile.  The  ad- 
ventures which  befell  him  in  his  wanderings 
will  be  described  in  the  following  chapter. 

Sylla  was  now  in  the  possession  of  absolute 
power.  He  was  master  of  Rome,  and  of  all  the 
countries  over  which  Rome  held  sway.  Still 
he  was  nominally  not  a  magistrate,  but  only  a 
general  returning  victoriously  from  his  Asiatic 
campaign,  and  putting  to  death,  somewhat  ir- 
regularly, it  is  true,  by  a  sort  of  martial  law, 


B.C.82.]      Marius  and  Sylla.  33 

Sylla  made  dictator.  He  resigns  his  power. 

persons  whom  he  found,  as  he  said,  disturbing 
the  public  peace.  After  having  thus  effectually 
disposed  of  the  power  of  his  enemies,  he  laid 
aside,  ostensibly,  the  government  of  the  sword, 
and  submitted  himself  and  his  future  measures 
to  the  control  of  law.  He  placed  himself  os- 
tensibly at  the  disposition  of  the  city.  They 
chose  him  dictator,  which  was  investing  him 
with  absolute  and  unlimited  power.  He  re- 
mained on  this,  the  highest  pinnacle  of  worldly 
ambition,  a  short  time,  and  then  resigned  his 
power,  and  devoted  the  remainder  of  his  days  to 
literary  pursuits  and  pleasures.  Monster  as  he 
was  in  the  cruelties  which  he  inflicted  upon  his 
political  foes,  he  was  intellectually  of  a  refined 
and  cultivated  mind,  and  felt  an  ardent  interest 
in  the  promotion  of  literature  and  the  arts. 

The  quarrel  between  Marius  and  Sylla,  in 
respect  to  every  thing  which  can  make  such  a 
contest  great,  stands  in  the  estimation  of  man- 
kind as  the  greatest  personal  quarrel  which  the 
history  of  the  world  has  ever  recorded.  Its 
origin  was  in  the  simple  personal  rivalry  of 
two  ambitious  men.  It  involved,  in  its  conse- 
quences, the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  world. 
In  their  reckless  struggles,  the  fierce  combatants 
trampled  on  every  thing  that  came  in  their  way, 
C 


34  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C.  82 

Opinion  of  mankind  in  regard  to  Marius  and  Sylla. 

and  destroyed  mercilessly,  each  in  his  turn,  all 
that  opposed  them.  Mankind  have  always  ex- 
ecrated their  crimes,  but  have  never  ceased  to 
admire  the  frightful  and  almost  superhuman 
energy  with  which  they  committed  them. 


B.C.  82.]   Cesar's   Early  Years.         35 

Csesar's  resolution.  His  person  and  character. 


Chapter   II. 
Cesar's  Early  Years. 

CiESAR  does  not  seem  to  have  been  much 
disheartened  and  depressed  by  his  misfor- 
tunes. He  possessed  in  his  early  life  more  than 
the  usual  share  of  buoyancy  and  light-hearted- 
ness  of  youth,  and  he  went  away  from  Rome  to 
enter,  perhaps,  upon  years  of  exile  and  wander- 
ing, with  a  determination  to  face  boldly  and  to 
brave  the  evils  and  dangers  which  surrounded 
him,  and  not  to  succumb  to  them. 

Sometimes  they  who  become  great  in  their 
maturer  years  are  thoughtful,  grave,  and  se- 
date when  young.  It  was  not  so,  however, 
with  Caesar.  He  was  of  a  very  gay  and  lively 
disposition.  He  was  tall  and  handsome  in  his 
person,  fascinating  in  his  manners,  and  fond  of 
society,  as  people  always  are  who  know  or  who 
suppose  that  they  shine  in  it.  He  had  seemed, 
in  a  word,  during  his  residence  at  Rome,  wholly 
intent  upon  the  pleasures  of  a  gay  and  joyous 
life,  and  upon  the  personal  observation  which 
his  rank,  his  wealth,  his  agreeable   manners, 


36  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C.  82. 

Sylla's  estimate  of  Caesar.  Caesar's  friends  intercede  for  him. 

and  his  position  in  society  secured  for  him.  In 
fact,  they  who  observed  and  studied  his  charac- 
ter in  these  early  years,  thought  that,  although 
his  situation  was  very  favorable  for  acquiring 
power  and  renown,  he  would  never  feel  any 
strong  degree  of  ambition  to  avail  himself  of  its 
advantages.  He  was  too  much  interested,  they 
thought,  in  personal  pleasures  ever  to  become 
great,  either  as  a  military  commander  or  a 
statesman. 

Sylla,  however,  thought  differently.  He  had 
penetration  enough  to  perceive,  beneath  all  the 
gayety  and  love  of  pleasure  which  characterized 
Caesar's  youthful  life,  the  germs  of  a  sterner 
and  more  aspiring  spirit,  which,  he  was  very 
sorry  to  see,  was  likely  to  expend  its  future 
energies  in  hostility  to  him.  By  refusing  to 
submit  to  Sylla's  commands,  Caesar  had,  in  ef- 
fect, thrown  himself  entirely  upon  the  other 
party,  and  would  be,  of  course,  in  future  iden- 
tified with  them.  Sylla  consequently  looked 
upon  him  now  as  a  confirmed  and  settled  ene- 
my. Some  friends  of  Caesar  among  the  patri- 
cian families  interceded  in  his  behalf  with  Syl- 
la again,  after  he  had  fled  from  Rome.  They 
wished  Sylla  to  pardon  him,  saying  that  he  was 
a  mere  boy  and  could  do  him  no  harm.     Sylla 


B.C.82.]   Cesar's  Early  Years.         37 

Caesar's  studies.  His  ambition  to  be  an  orator. 

shook  his  head,  saying  that,  young  as  he  was, 
he  saw  in  him  indications  of  a  future  power 
which  he  thought  was  more  to  be  dreaded  than 
that  of  many  Mariuses. 

One  reason  which  led  Sylla  to  form  this  opin- 
ion of  Caesar  was,  that  the  young  nobleman, 
with  all  his  love  of  gayety  and  pleasure,  had 
not  neglected  his  studies,  but  had  taken  great 
pains  to  perfect  himself  in  such  intellectual  pur- 
suits as  ambitious  men  who  looked  forward  to 
political  influence  and  ascendency  were  accus- 
tomed to  prosecute  in  those  days.  He  had 
studied  the  Greek  language,  and  read  the  works 
of  Greek  historians ;  and  he  attended  lectures 
on  philosophy  and  rhetoric,  and  was  obviously 
interested  deeply  in  acquiring  power  as  a  pub- 
lic speaker.  To  write  and  speak  well  gave  a 
public  man  great  influence  in  those  days.  Many 
of  the  measures  of  the  government  were  determ- 
ined by  the  action  of  great  assemblies  of  the 
free  citizens,  which  action  was  itself,  in  a  great 
measure,  controlled  by  the  harangues  of  orators 
who  had  such  powers  of  voice  and  such  quali- 
ties of  mind  as  enabled  them  to  gain  the  atten- 
tion and  sway  the  opinions  of  large  bodies  of 
men. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this 


38  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  82. 

The  Forum.  Its  porticoes  and  statues. 

popular  power  was  shared  by  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  city.  At  one  time,  when  the  popu- 
lation of  the  city  was  about  three  millions,  the 
number  of  free  citizens  was  only  three  hundred 
thousand.  The  rest  were  laborers,  artisans, 
and  slaves,  who  had  no  voice  in  public  affairs. 
The  free  citizens  held  very  frequent  public  as- 
semblies. There  were  various  squares  and  open 
spaces  in  the  city  where  such  assemblies  were 
convened,  and  where  courts  of  justice  were  held. 
The  Roman  name  for  such  a  square  was  forum. 
There  was  one  which  was  distinguished  above 
all  the  rest,  and  was  called  emphatically  The 
Forum.  It  was  a  magnificent  square,  surround- 
ed by  splendid  edifices,  and  ornamented  by 
sculptures  and  statues  without  number.  There 
were  ranges  of  porticoes  along  the  sides,  where 
the  people  were  sheltered  from  the  weather 
when  necessary,  though  it  is  seldom  that  there 
is  any  necessity  for  shelter  under  an  Italian 
sky.  In  this  area  and  under  these  porticoes 
the  people  held  their  assemblies,  and  here  courts 
of  justice  were  accustomed  to  sit.  The  Forum 
was  ornamented  continually  with  new  monu- 
ments, temples,  statues,  and  columns  by  suc- 
cessful generals  returning  in  triumph  from  for- 
eign campaigns,  and  by  proconsuls  and  praetors 


B.C.82.]   Cesar's   Early   Years.         41 

Attractions  of  the  Forum.  Harangues  and  political  discussions. 

coming  back  enriched  from  their  provinces,  un- 
til it  was  fairly  choked  up  with  its  architectu- 
ral magnificence,  and  it  had  at  last  to  be  par- 
tially cleared  again,  as  one  would  thin  out  too 
dense  a  forest,  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
assemblies  which  it  was  its  main  function  to 
contain. 

The  people  of  Rome  had,  of  course,  no  printed 
books,  and  yet  they  were  mentally  cultivated 
and  refined,  and  were  qualified  for  a  very  high 
appreciation  of  intellectual  pursuits  and  pleas- 
ures. In  the  absence,  therefore,  of  all  facilities 
for  private  reading,  the  Forum  became  the  great 
central  point  of  attraction.  The  same  kind  of 
interest  which,  in  our  day,  finds  its  gratification 
in  reading  volumes  of  printed  history  quietly  at 
home,  or  in  silently  perusing  the  columns  of 
newspapers  and  magazines  in  libraries  and  read- 
ing-rooms, where  a  whisper  is  seldom  heard,  in 
Caesar's  day  brought  every  body  to  the  Forum, 
to  listen  to  historical  harangues,  or  political  dis- 
cussions, or  forensic  arguments  in  the  midst  of 
noisy  crowds.  Here  all  tidings  centered ;  here 
all  questions  were  discussed  and  all  great  elec- 
tions held.  Here  were  waged  those  ceaseless 
conflicts  of  ambition  and  struggles  of  power  on 
which  the  fate  of  nations,  and  sometimes  the 


42  Julius  Caesar.     [B.C.  80-70. 

Apollonius.  Caesar  studies  under  him. 

welfare  of  almost  half  mankind  depended.  Of 
course,  every  ambitious  man  who  aspired  to  an 
ascendency  over  his  fellow-men,  wished  to  make 
his  voice  heard  in  the  Forum.  To  calm  the 
boisterous  tumult  there,  and  to  hold,  as  some 
of  the  Roman  orators  could  do,  the  vast  assem- 
blies in  silent  and  breathless  attention,  was  a 
power  as  delightful  in  its  exercise  as  it  was  glo- 
rious in  its  fame.  Caesar  had  felt  this  ambition, 
and  had  devoted  himself  very  earnestly  to  the 
study  of  oratory. 

His  teacher  was  Apollonius,  a  philosopher  and 
rhetorician  from  Rhodes.  Rhodes  is  a  Grecian 
island,  near  the  southwestern  coast  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor. Apollonius  was  a  teacher  of  great  celeb- 
rity, and  Caesar  became  a  very  able  writer  and 
speaker  under  his  instructions.  His  time  and 
attention  were,  in  fact,  strangely  divided  be- 
tween the  highest  and  noblest  intellectual  avo- 
cations, and  the  lowest  sensual  pleasures  of  a 
gay  and  dissipated  life.  The  coming  of  Sylla 
had,  however,  interrupted  all ;  and,  after  re- 
ceiving the  dictator's  command  to  give  up  his 
wife  and  abandon  the  Marian  faction,  and  de- 
termining to  disobey  it,  he  fled  suddenly  from 
Rome,  as  was  stated  at  the  close  of  the  last 
chapter,  at  midnight,  and  in  disguise. 


B.C.  80-70.]  Cesar's   Early  Years.   43 

Caesar's  wanderings.  He  is  seized  by  a  centurion. 

He  was  sick,  too,  at  the  time,  with  an  inter- 
mittent fever.  The  paroxysm  returned  once  in 
three  or  four  days,  leaving  him  in  tolerable 
health  during  the  interval.  He  went  first  into 
the  country  of  the  Sabines,  northeast  of  Rome, 
where  he  wandered  up  and  down,  exposed  con- 
tinually to  great  dangers  from  those  who  knew 
that  he  was  an  object  of  the  great  dictator's  dis- 
pleasure, and  who  were  sure  of  favor  and  of  a 
reward  if  they  could  carry  his  head  to  Sylla. 
He  had  to  change  his  quarters  every  day,  and 
to  resort  to  every  possible  mode  of  concealment. 
He  was,  however,  at  last  discovered,  and  seized 
by  a  centurion.  A  centurion  was  a  commander 
of  a  hundred  men ;  his  rank  and  his  position, 
therefore,  corresponded  somewhat  with  those  of 
a  captain  in  a  modern  army.  Caesar  was  not 
much  disturbed  at  this  accident.  He  offered 
the  centurion  a  bribe  sufficient  to  induce  him 
to  give  up  his  prisoner,  and  so  escaped. 

The  two  ancient  historians,  whose  records 
contain  nearly  all  the  particulars  of  the  early 
life  of  Caesar  which  are  now  known,  give  some- 
what contradictory  accounts  of  the  adventures 
which  befell  him  during  his  subsequent  wander- 
ings. They  relate,  in  general,  the  same  inci- 
dents, but  in  such  different  connections,  that  the 


44  Julius  Caesar.     [B.C.  80-70. 

Caesar  in  Asia  Minor.  He  joins  the  court  of  Nicomedes. 

precise  chronological  order  of  the  events  which 
occurred  can  not  now  be  ascertained.  At  all 
events,  Caesar,  finding  that  he  was  no  longer  safe 
in  the  vicinity  of  Rome,  moved  gradually  to  the 
eastward,  attended  by  a  few  followers,  until  he 
reached  the  sea,  and  there  he  embarked  on 
board  a  ship  to  leave  his  native  land  altogether. 
After  various  adventures  and  wanderings,  he 
found  himself  at  length  in  Asia  Minor,  and  he 
made  his  way  at  last  to  the  kingdom  of  Bithyn- 
ia,  on  the  northern  shore.  The  name  of  the 
king  of  Bithynia  was  Nicomedes.  Caesar  joined 
himself  to  Nicomedes's  court,  and  entered  into 
his  service.  In  the  mean  time,  Sylla  had  ceased 
to  pursue  him,  and  ultimately  granted  him  a 
pardon,  but  whether  before  or  after  this  time  is 
not  now  to  be  ascertained.  At  all  events,  Caesar 
became  interested  in  the  scenes  and  enjoyments 
of  Nicomedes's  court,  and  allowed  the  time  to 
pass  away  without  forming  any  plans  for  re- 
turning to  Rome. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  Asia  Minor,  that  is, 
on  the  southern  shore,  there  was  a  wild  and 
mountainous  region  called  Cilicia.  The  great 
chain  of  mountains  called  Taurus  approaches 
here  very  near  to  the  sea,  and  the  steep  confor- 
mations of  the  land,  which,  in  the  interior,  pro- 


B.C.80-70.]  Cesar's  Early  Years.   45 

CUicia.  Character  of  its  inhabitants. 

duce  lofty  ranges  and  summits,  and  dark  valleys 
and  ravines,  form,  along  the  line  of  the  shore, 
capes  and  promontories,  bounded  by  precipitous 
sides,  and  with  deep  bays  and  harbors  between 
them.  The  people  of  Cilicia  were  accordingly 
half  sailors,  half  mountaineers.  They  built 
swift  galleys,  and  made  excursions  in  great  force 
over  the  Mediterranean  Sea  for  conquest  and 
plunder.  They  would  capture  single  ships,  and 
sometimes  even  whole  fleets  of  merchantmen. 
They  were  even  strong  enough  on  many  occa- 
sions to  land  and  take  possession  of  a  harbor  and 
a  town,  and  hold  it,  often,  for  a  considerable 
time,  against  all  the  efforts  of  the  neighboring 
powers  to  dislodge  them.  In  case,  however, 
their  enemies  became  at  any  time  too  strong 
for  them,  they  would  retreat  to  their  harbors, 
which  were  so  defended  by  the  fortresses  which 
guarded  them,  and  by  the  desperate  bravery  of 
the  garrisons,  that  the  pursuers  generally  did 
not  dare  to  attempt  to  force  their  way  in ;  and 
if,  in  any  case,  a  town  or  a  port  was  taken,  the 
indomitable  savages  would  continue  their  re- 
treat to  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  where 
it  was  utterly  useless  to  attempt  to  follow  them. 
But  with  all  their  prowess  and  skill  as  naval 
combatants,  and  their  hardihood  as  mountain- 


46  Julius   Caesar.     [B.C.  80-70. 

The  Cilicians  wanting  in  poets  and  historians.  Robbers  and  pirates. 

eers,  the  Cilicians  lacked  one  thing  which  is 
very  essential  in  every  nation  to  an  honorable 
military  fame.  They  had  no  poets  or  histori- 
ans of  their  own,  so  that  the  story  of  their  deeds 
had  to  be  told  to  posterity  by  their  enemies. 
If  they  had  been  able  to  narrate  their  own  ex- 
ploits, they  would  have  figured,  perhaps,  upon 
the  page  of  history  as  a  small  but  brave  and  ef- 
ficient maritime  power,  pursuing  for  many 
years  a  glorious  career  of  conquest,  and  acquir- 
ing imperishable  renown  by  their  enterprise 
and  success.  As  it  was,  the  Romans,  their  en- 
emies, described  their  deeds  and  gave  them 
their  designation.  They  called  them  robbers 
and  pirates ;  and  robbers  and  pirates  they  must 
forever  remain. 

And  it  is,  in  fact,  very  likely  true  that  the 
Cilician  commanders  did  not  pursue  their  con- 
quests and  commit  their  depredations  on  the 
rights  and  the  property  of  others  in  quite  so 
systematic  and  methodical  a  manner  as  some 
other  conquering  states  have  done.  They  prob- 
ably seized  private  property  a  little  more  un- 
ceremoniously than  is  customary ;  though  all 
belligerent  nations,  even  in  these  Christian  ages 
of  the  world,  feel  at  liberty  to  seize  and  confis- 
cate private  property  when  they  find  it  afloat 


B.C.  80-70.]  Cesar's   Early   Years.    47 

Depredations  of  the  Cilicians.  Expeditions  sent  against  thom. 

at  sea,  while,  by  a  strange  inconsistency,  they 
respect  it  on  the  land.  The  Cilician  pirates 
considered  themselves  at  war  with  all  mankind, 
and,  whatever  merchandise  they  found  passing 
from  port  to  port  along  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, they  considered  lawful  spoil.  They 
intercepted  the  corn  which  was  going  from  Sic- 
ily to  Rome,  and  filled  their  own  granaries  with 
it.  They  got  rich  merchandise  from  the  ships 
of  Alexandria,  which  brought,  sometimes,  gold, 
and  gems,  and  costly  fabrics  from  the  East; 
and  they  obtained,  often,  large  sums  of  money 
by  seizing  men  of  distinction  and  wealth,  who 
were  continually  passing  to  and  fro  between  It- 
aly and  Greece,  and  holding  them  for  a  ransom. 
They  were  particularly  pleased  to  get  posses- 
sion in  this  way  of  Roman  generals  and  officers 
of  state,  who  were  going  out  to  take  the  com- 
mand of  armies,  or  who  were  returning  from 
their  provinces  with  the  wealth  which  they  had 
accumulated  there. 

Many  expeditions  were  fitted  out  and  many 
naval  commanders  were  commissioned  to  sup- 
press and  subdue  these  common  enemies  of 
mankind,  as  the  Romans  called  them.  At  one 
time,  while  a  distinguished  general,  named  An- 
tonius,  was  in  pursuit  of  them   at  the  head 


48  Julius  C^sar.     IB.C.  80-70. 

Boldness  and  courage  of  the  Cilicians.  They  capture  Caesar. 

of  a  fleet,  a  party  of  the  pirates  made  a  descent 
upon  the  Italian  coast,  south  of  Rome,  at  Ni- 
cenum,  where  the  ancient  patrimonial  mansion 
of  this  very  Antonius  was  situated,  and  took 
away  several  members  of  his  family  as  captives, 
and  so  compelled  him  to  ransom  them  by  pay- 
ing a  very  large  sum  of  money.  The  pirates 
grew  bolder  and  bolder  in  proportion  to  their 
success.  They  finally  almost  stopped  all  inter- 
course between  Italy  and  Greece,  neither  the 
merchants  daring  to  expose  their  merchandise, 
nor  the  passengers  their  persons  to  such  dangers 
They  then  approached  nearer  and  nearer  to 
Rome,  and  at  last  actually  entered  the  Tiber, 
and  surprised  and  carried  off  a  Roman  fleet 
which  was  anchored  there.  Csesar  himself  fell 
into  the  hands  of  these  pirates  at  some  time 
during  the  period  of  his  wanderings. 

The  pirates  captured  the  ship  in  which  he 
was  sailing  near  Pharmacusa,  a  small  island 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  iEgean  Sea.  He 
was  not  at  this  time  in  the  destitute  condition 
in  which  he  had  found  himself  on  leaving  Rome, 
but  was  traveling  with  attendants  suitable  to 
his  rank,  and  in  such  a  style  and  manner  as  at 
once  made  it  evident  to  the  pirates  that  he  was 
a  man  of  distinction.      They  accordingly  held 


B.C.  80-70.]  Cjesar's   Early  Years.  49 

Caesar's  air  of  superiority.  His  ransom. 

him  for  ransom,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  until  he 
could  take  measures  for  raising  the  money,  they 
kept  him  a  prisoner  on  board  the  vessel  which 
had  captured  him. 

In  this  situation,  Csesar,  though  entirely  in 
the  power  and  at  the  mercy  of  his  lawless  cap- 
tors, assumed  such  an  air  of  superiority  and 
command  in  all  his  intercourse  with  them  as 
at  first  awakened  their  astonishment,  then  ex- 
cited their  admiration,  and  ended  in  almost  sub- 
jecting them  to  his  will.  He  asked  them  what 
they  demanded  for  his  ransom.  They  said 
twenty  talents,  which  was  quite  a  large  amount, 
a  talent  itself  being  a  considerable  sum  of  money. 
Csesar  laughed  at  this  demand,  and  told  them 
it  was  plain  that  they  did  not  know  who  he  was. 
He  would  give  them  fifty  talents.  He  then  sent 
away  his  attendants  to  the  shore,  with  orders  to 
proceed  to  certain  cities  where  he  was  known, 
in  order  to  procure  the  money,  retaining  only  a 
physician  and  two  servants  for  himself.  While 
his  messengers  were  gone,  he  remained  on  board 
the  ship  of  his  captors,  assuming  in  every  re- 
spect the  air  and  manner  of  their  master.  When 
he  wished  to  sleep,  if  they  made  a  noise  which 
disturbed  him,  he  sent  them  orders  to  be  still. 
He  joined  them  in  their  sports  and  diversions 
D 


50  Julius  C^sar.     [B.C.  80-70. 

Caesar  at  liberty.  He  captures  the  pirates  in  his  turn. 

on  the  deck,  surpassing  them  in  their  feats,  and 
taking  the  direction  of  every  thing  as  if  he  were 
their  acknowledged  leader.  He  wrote  orations 
and  verses  which  he  read  to  them,  and  if  his 
wild  auditors  did  not  appear  to  appreciate  the 
literary  excellence  of  his  compositions,  he  told 
them  that  they  were  stupid  fools  without  any 
taste,  adding,  by  way  of  apology,  that  nothing 
better  could  be  expected  of  such  barbarians. 

The  pirates  asked  him  one  day  what  he  should 
do  to  them  if  he  should  ever,  at  any  future  time, 
take  them  prisoners.  Csesar  said  that  he  would 
crucify  every  one  of  them. 

The  ransom  money  at  length  arrived.  Caesar 
paid  it  to  the  pirates,  and  they,  faithful  to  their 
covenant,  sent  him  in  a  boat  to  the  land.  He 
was  put  ashore  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Minor.  He 
proceeded  immediately  to  Miletus,  the  near- 
est port,  equipped  a  small  fleet  there,  and  put 
to  sea.  He  sailed  at  once  to  the  roadstead 
where  the  pirates  had  been  lying,  and  found 
them  still  at  anchor  there,  in  perfect  security .# 
He  attacked  them,  seized  their  ships,  recovered 
his  ransom  money,  and  took  the  men  all  pris- 
oners. He  conveyed  his  captives  to  the  land, 
and  there  fulfilled  his  threat  that  he  would  cru- 

*  See  Frontispiece. 


B.C.  80-70.]  Cesar's  Early  Years.  51 

Caesar  at  Rhodes.  He  returns  to  Rome. 

cify  them  by  cutting  their  throats  and  nailing 
their  dead  bodies  to  crosses  which  his  men 
erected  for  the  purpose  along  the  shore. 

During  his  absence  from  Rome  Caesar  went 
to  Rhodes,  where  his  former  preceptor  resided, 
and  he  continued  to  pursue  there  for  some  time 
his  former  studies.  He  looked  forward  still  to 
appearing  one  day  in  the  Roman  Forum.  In 
fact,  he  began  to  receive  messages  from  his 
friends  at  home  that  they  thought  it  would  be 
safe  for  him  to  return.  Sylla  had  gradually 
withdrawn  from  power,  and  finally  had  died. 
The  aristocratical  party  were  indeed  still  in 
the  ascendency,  but  the  party  of  Marius  had 
begun  to  recover  a  little  from  the  total  over- 
throw with  which  Sylla's  return,  and  his  terri- 
ble military  vengeance,  had  overwhelmed  them. 
Caesar  himself,  therefore,  they  thought,  might, 
with  prudent  management,  be  safe  in  return- 
ing to  Rome. 

He  returned,  but  not  to  be  prudent  or  cau- 
tious ;  there  was  no  element  of  prudence  or 
caution  in  his  character.  As  soon  as  he  arriv- 
ed, he  openly  espoused  the  popular  party.  His 
first  public  act  was  to  arraign  the  governor  of 
the  great  province  of  Macedonia,  through  which 
he  had  passed  on  his  way  to  Bithynia.     It  was 


52  Julius  Caesar.     [B.C.  80-70. 

Caesar  impeaches  Dolabella.  Excitement  in  consequence. 

a  consul  whom  he  thus  impeached,  and  a  strong 
partisan  of  Sylla's.  His  name  was  Dolabella. 
The  people  were  astonished  at  his  daring  in  thus 
raising  the  standard  of  resistance  to  Sylla's  pow- 
er, indirectly,  it  is  true,  but  none  the  less  real- 
ly on  that  account.  When  the  trial  came  on, 
and  Caesar  appeared  at  the  Forum,  he  gained 
great  applause  by  the  vigor  and  force  of  his  or- 
atory. There  was,  of  course,  a  very  strong  and 
general  interest  felt  in  the  case ;  the  people  all 
seeming  to  understand  that,  in  this  attack  on 
Dolabella,  Csesar  was  appearing  as  their  cham- 
pion, and  their  hopes  were  revived  at  having  at 
last  found  a  leader  capable  of  succeeding  Ma- 
rius,  and  building  up  their  cause  again.  Dola- 
bella was  ably  defended  by  orators  on  the  oth- 
er side,  and  was,  of  course,  acquitted,  for  the 
power  of  Sylla's  party  was  still  supreme.  All 
Rome,  however,  was  aroused  and  excited  by  the 
boldness  of  Caesar's  attack,  and  by  the  extraor- 
dinary ability  which  he  evinced  in  his  mode  of 
conducting  it.  He  became,  in  fact,  at  once 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  prominent 
men  in  the  city. 

Encouraged  by  his  success,  and  the  applaus- 
es which  he  received,  and  feeling  every  day  a 
greater  and  greater  consciousness  of  power,  he 


B.C. 80-70.]  Cesar's  Early  Years.   53 

Caesar's  increasing  power.  Death  of  Marius's  wife. 

began  to  assume  more  and  more  openly  the 
character  of  the  leader  of  the  popular  party. 
He  devoted  himself  to  public  speaking  in  the 
Forum,  both  before  popular  assemblies  and  in 
the  courts  of  justice,  where  he  was  employed  a 
great  deal  as  an  advocate  to  defend  those  who 
were  accused  of  political  crimes.  The  people, 
considering  him  as  their  rising  champion,  were 
predisposed  to  regard  every  thing  that  he  did 
with  favor,  and  there  was  really  a  great  intel- 
lectual power  displayed  in  his  orations  and  ha- 
rangues. He  acquired,  in  a  word,  great  celeb- 
rity by  his  boldness  and  energy,  and  his  bold- 
ness and  energy  were  themselves  increased  in 
their  turn  as  he  felt  the  strength  of  his  position 
increase  with  his  growing  celebrity. 

At  length  the  wife  of  Marius,  who  was  Cae- 
sar's aunt,  died.  She  had  lived  in  obscurity 
since  her  husband's  proscription  and  death,  his 
party  having  been  put  down  so  effectually  that 
it  was  dangerous  to  appear  to  be  her  friend. 
Csesar,  however,  made  preparations  for  a  mag- 
nificent funeral  for  her.  There  was  a  place  in 
the  Forum,  a  sort  of  pulpit,  where  public  orators 
were  accustomed  to  stand  in  addressing  the  as- 
sembly on  great  occasions.  This  pulpit  was 
adorned  with  the  brazen  beaks  of  ships  which 


54  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C.  67. 

Ceesar's  panegyric  on  Marius's  wife.  Its  success. 

had  been  taken  by  the  Romans  in  former  wars. 
The  name  of  such  a  beak  was  rostrum  ;  in  the 
plural,  rostra.  The  pulpit  was  itself,  therefore, 
called  the  Rostra,  that  is,  The  Beaks ;  and  the 
people  were  addressed  from  it  on  great  public 
occasions.*  Caesar  pronounced  a  splendid  pan- 
egyric upon  the  wife  of  Marius,  at  this  her  fu- 
neral, from  the  Rostra,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast 
concourse  of  spectators,  and  he  had  the  bold- 
ness to  bring  out  to  view  on  the  occasion  cer- 
tain household  images  of  Marius,  which  had 
been  concealed  from  view  ever  since  his  death. 
Producing  them  asfain  on  such  an  occasion  was 
annulling,  so  far  as  a  public  orator  could  do  it, 
the  sentence  of  condemnation  which  Sylla  and 
the  patrician  party  had  pronounced  against  him, 
and  bringing  him  forward  again  as  entitled  to 
public  admiration  and  applause.  The  patrician 
partisans  who  were  present  attempted  to  re- 
buke this  bold  maneuver  with  expressions  of  dis- 
approbation, but  these  expressions  were  drown- 
ed in  the  loud  and  long-continued  bursts  of  ap- 
plause with  which  the  great  mass  of  the  assem- 
bled multitude  hailed  and  sanctioned  it.  The 
experiment  was  very  bold  and  very  hazardous, 
but  it  was  triumphantly  successful. 

*  In  modern  books  this  pulpit  is  sometimes  called  the  Ros- 
trum, using  the  word  in  the  singular. 


B.C. 67.]  Cesar's  Early  Years.  55 

Caesar's  oration  on  his  wife.  Alarm  of  the  patricians. 

A  short  time  after  this  Caesar  had  another 
opportunity  for  delivering  a  funeral  oration  ;  it 
was  in  the  case  of  his  own  wife,  the  daughter 
of  China,  who  had  been  the  colleague  and  co- 
adjutor of  Marius  during  the  days  of  his  power. 
It  was  not  usual  to  pronounce  such  panegyrics 
upon  Roman  ladies  unless  they  had  attained 
to  an  advanced  age.  Caesar,  however,  was  dis- 
posed to  make  the  case  of  his  own  wife  an  ex- 
ception to  the  ordinary  rule.  He  saw  in  the 
occasion  an  opportunity  to  give  a  new  impulse 
to  the  popular  cause,  and  to  make  further  prog- 
ress in  gaining  the  popular  favor.  The  exper- 
iment was  successful  in  this  instance  too.  The 
people  were  pleased  at  the  apparent  affection 
which  his  action  evinced ;  and  as  Cornelia  was 
the  daughter  of  Cinna,  he  had  opportunity,  un- 
der pretext  of  praising  the  birth  and  parentage 
of  the  deceased,  to  laud  the  men  whom  Sylla's 
party  had  outlawed  and  destroyed.  In  a  word, 
the  patrician  party  saw  with  anxiety  and  dread 
that  Caesar  was  rapidly  consolidating  and  organ- 
izing, and  bringing  back  to  its  pristine  strength 
and  vigor,  a  party  whose  restoration  to  power 
would  of  course  involve  their  own  political,  and 
perhaps  personal  ruin. 

Caesar  began  soon  to  receive  appointments  to 


56  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.  67. 

Csesar  in  office.  Shows  and  entertainments. 

public  office,  and  thus  rapidly  increased  his  in- 
fluence and  power.  Public  officers  and  candi- 
dates for  office  were  accustomed  in  those  days 
to  expend  great  sums  of  money  in  shows  and 
spectacles  to  amuse  the  people.  Csesar  went 
to  a  great  extreme  in  these  expenditures.  He 
brought  gladiators  from  distant  provinces,  and 
trained  them  at  great  expense,  to  fight  in  the 
enormous  amphitheaters  of  the  city,  in  the 
midst  of  vast  assemblies  of  men.  Wild  beasts 
were  procured  also  from  the  forests  of  Africa, 
and  brought  over  in  great  numbers,  under  his 
direction,  that  the  people  might  be  entertained 
by  their  combats  with  captives  taken  in  war, 
who  were  reserved  for  this  dreadful  fate.  C&e- 
sar  gave,  also,  splendid  entertainments,  of  the 
most  luxurious  and  costly  character,  and  he 
mingled  with  his  guests  at  these  entertainments, 
and  with  the  people  at  large  on  other  occasions, 
in  so  complaisant  and  courteous  a  manner  as  to 
gain  universal  favor. 

He  soon,  by  these  means,  not  only  exhausted 
all  his  own  pecuniary  resources,  but  plunged 
himself  enormously  into  debt.  It  was  not  dif- 
ficult for  such  a  man  in  those  days  to  procure 
an  almost  unlimited  credit  for  such  purposes  as 
these,  for  every  one  knew  that,  if  he  finally  sue- 


B.C.67.]  Cesar's   Early  Years.  57 

Caesar's  extravagance.  His  embarrassments. 

ceeded  in  placing  himself,  by  means  of  the  pop- 
ularity thus  acquired,  in  stations  of  power,  he 
could  soon  indemnify  himself  and  all  others 
who  had  aided  him.  The  peaceful  merchants, 
and  artisans,  and  husbandmen  of  the  distant 
provinces  over  which  he  expected  to  rule,  would 
yield  the  revenues  necessary  to  fill  the  treasu- 
ries thus  exhausted.  Still,  Caesar's  expendi- 
tures were  so  lavish,  and  the  debts  he  incurred 
were  so  enormous,  that  those  who  had  not  the 
most  unbounded  confidence  in  his  capacity  and 
his  powers  believed  him  irretrievably  ruined. 

The  particulars,  however,  of  these  difficulties, 
and  the  manner  in  which  Caesar  contrived  to 
extricate  himself  from  them,  will  be  more  fully 
detailed  in  the  next  chapter. 


58  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C.  67. 

Caesar's  rise  to  power.  Government  of  Rome. 


Chapter   III. 
Advancement  to  the  Consulship. 

FROM  this  time,  which  was  about  sixty- 
seven  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  Caesar 
remained  for  nine  years  generally  at  Rome,  en- 
gaged there  in  a  constant  struggle  for  power. 
He  was  successful  in  these  efforts,  rising  all  the 
time  from  one  position  of  influence  and  honor  to 
another,  until  he  became  altogether  the  most 
prominent  and  powerful  man  in  the  city.  A 
great  many  incidents  are  recorded,  as  attending 
these  contests,  which  illustrate  in  a  very  striking 
manner  the  strange  mixture  of  rude  violence  and 
legal  formality  by  which  Rome  was  in  those 
days  governed. 

Many  of  the  most  important  offices  of  the 
state  depended  upon  the  votes  of  the  people ; 
and  as  the  people  had  very  little  opportunity  to 
become  acquainted  with  the  real  merits  of  the 
case  in  respect  to  questions  of  government,  they 
gave  their  votes  very  much  according  to  the 
personal  popularity  of  the  candidate.  Public 
men  had  very  little  moral  principle  in  those 


B.C.  67-65.]     Made  Consul.  59 

Bribery  and  corruption.  Public  amusements. 

days,  and  they  would  accordingly  resort  to  any 
means  whatever  to  procure  this  personal  popu- 
larity. They  who  wanted  office  were  accus- 
tomed to  bribe  influential  men  among  the  people 
to  support  them,  sometimes  by  promising  them 
subordinate  offices,  and  sometimes  by  the  direct 
donation  of  sums  of  money  ;  and  they  would  try 
to  please  the  mass  of  the  people,  who  were  too 
numerous  to  be  paid  with  offices  or  with  gold, 
by  shows  and  spectacles,  and  entertainments  of 
every  kind  which  they  would  provide  for  their 
amusement. 

This  practice  seems  to  us  very  absurd ;  and 
we  wonder  that  the  Roman  people  should  toler- 
ate it,  since  it  is  evident  that  the  means  for  de- 
fraying these  expenses  must  come,  ultimately, 
in  some  way  or  other,  from  them.  And  yet,  ab- 
surd as  it  seems,  this  sort  of  policy  is  not  wholly 
disused  even  in  our  day.  The  operas  and  the 
theaters,  and  other  similar  establishments  in 
France,  are  sustained,  in  part,  by  the  govern- 
ment;  and  the  liberality  and  efficiency  with 
which  this  is  done,  forms,  in  some  degree,  the 
basis  of  the  popularity  of  each  succeeding  admin- 
istration. The  plan  is  better  systematized  and 
regulated  in  our  day,  but  it  is,  in  its  nature, 
substantially  the  same. 


60  Julius  C^sar.     [B.C.  67-65. 

Amusements  for  the  people.  Provided  by  the  government. 

In  fact,  furnishing  amusements  for  the  people, 
and  also  providing  supplies  for  their  wants,  as 
well  as  affording  them  protection,  were  consid- 
ered the  legitimate  objects  of  government  in 
those  days.  It  is  very  different  at  the  present 
time,  and  especially  in  this  country.  The 
whole  community  are  now  united  in  the  desire 
to  confine  the  functions  of  government  within 
the  narrowest  possible  limits,  such  as  to  include 
only  the  preservation  of  public  order  and  public 
safety.  The  people  prefer  to  supply  their  own 
wants  and  to  provide  their  own  enjoyments, 
rather  than  to  invest  government  with  the  power 
to  do  it  for  them,  knowing  very  well  that,  on 
the  latter  plan,  the  burdens  they  will  have  to 
bear,  though  concealed  for  a  time,  must  be 
doubled  in  the  end. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  there 
were  some  reasons  in  the  days  of  the  Eomans 
for  providing  public  amusements  for  the  people 
on  an  extended  scale  which  do  not  exist  now. 
They  had  very  few  facilities  then  for  the  private 
and  separate  enjoyments  of  home,  so  that  they 
were  much  more  inclined  than  the  people  of  this 
country  are  now  to  seek  pleasure  abroad  and 
in  public.  The  climate,  too,  mild  and  genial 
nearly  all  the  year,  favored  this.      Then  they 


B.C.  67-65.]     Made   Consul.  61 

How  the  people  were  supported.  Agrarian  laws. 

were  not  interested,  as  men  are  now,  in  the  pur- 
suits and  avocations  of  private  industry.  The 
people  of  Rome  were  not  a  community  of  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  and  citizens,  enriching 
themselves,  and  adding  to  the  comforts  and  en- 
joyments of  the  rest  of  mankind  by  the  products 
of  their  labor.  They  were  supported,  in  a  great 
measure,  by  the  proceeds  of  the  tribute  of  for- 
eign provinces,  and  by  the  plunder  taken  by  the 
generals  in  the  name  of  the  state  in  foreign 
wars.  From  the  same  source,  too — foreign  con- 
quest— captives  were  brought  home,  to  be  train- 
ed as  gladiators  to  amuse  them  with  their  com- 
bats, and  statues  and  paintings  to  ornament  the 
public  buildings  of  the  city.  In  the  same  man- 
ner, large  quantities  of  corn,  which  had  been 
taken  in  the  provinces,  were  often  distributed 
at  Rome.  And  sometimes  even  land  itself,  in 
large  tracts,  which  had  been  confiscated  by  the 
state,  or  otherwise  taken  from  the  original  pos- 
sessors, was  divided  among  the  people.  The 
laws  enacted  from  time  to  time  for  this  purpose 
were  called  Agrarian  laws ;  and  the  phrase  after- 
ward passed  into  a  sort  of  proverb,  inasmuch  as 
plans  proposed  in  modern  times  for  conciliating 
the  favor  of  the  populace  by  sharing  among  them 
property  belonging  to  the  state  or  to  the  rich, 
are  designated  by  the  name  of  Agrarianism. 


62  Julius   Caesar.    [B.C  67-65. 

Government  of  Rome.  Its  foreign  policy. 

Thus  Rome  was  a  city  supported,  in  a  great 
measure,  by  the  fruits  of  its  conquests,  that  is, 
in  a  certain  sense,  by  plunder.  It  was  a  vast 
community  most  efficiently  and  admirably  or- 
ganized for  this  purpose  :  and  yet  it  would  not 
be  perfectly  just  to  designate  the  people  simply 
as  a  band  of  robbers.  They  rendered,  in  some 
sense,  an  equivalent  for  what  they  took,  in 
establishing  and  enforcing  a  certain  organiza- 
tion of  society  throughout  the  world,  and  in 
preserving  a  sort  of  public  order  and  peace. 
They  built  cities,  they  constructed  aqueducts 
and  roads  ;  they  formed  harbors,  and  protected 
them  by  piers  and  by  castles ;  they  protected 
commerce,  and  cultivated  the  arts,  and  encour- 
aged literature,  and  enforced  a  general  quiet 
and  peace  among  mankind,  allowing  of  no  vio- 
lence or  war  except  what  they  themselves  cre- 
ated. Thus  th.ej  governed  the  world,  and  they 
felt,  as  all  governors  of  mankind  always  do,  fully 
entitled  to  supply  themselves  with  the  comforts 
and  conveniences  of  life,  in  consideration  of  the 
service  which  they  thus  rendered. 

Of  course,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  they 
would  sometimes  quarrel  among  themselves 
about  the  spoils.  Ambitious  men  were  always 
arising,  eager  to  obtain  opportunities  to  make 


B.C.  67-65.] 

Made   Consul. 

63 

Caesar's  policy. 

His  success. 

He  is  made  quaestor. 

fresh  conquests,  and  to  bring  home  new  sup- 
plies, and  those  who  were  most  successful  in 
making  the  results  of  their  conquests  available 
in  adding  to  the  wealth  and  to  the  public  en- 
joyments of  the  city,  would,  of  course,  be  most 
popular  with  the  voters.  Hence  extortion  in 
the  provinces,  and  the  most  profuse  and  lavish 
expenditure  in  the  city,  became  the  policy  which 
every  great  man  must  pursue  to  rise  to  power. 

Csesar  entered  into  this  policy  with  his  whole 
soul,  founding  all  his  hopes  of  success  upon  the 
favor  of  the  populace.  Of  course,  he  had  many 
rivals  and  opponents  among  the  patrician  ranks, 
and  in  the  Senate,  and  they  often  impeded  and 
thwarted  his  plans  and  measures  for  a  time, 
though  he  always  triumphed  in  the  end. 

One  of  the  first  offices  of  importance  to  which 
he  attained  was  that  of  quaestor,  as  it  was  call- 
ed, which  office  called  him  away  from  Rome 
into  the  province  of  Spain,  making  him  the  sec- 
ond in  command  there.  The  officer  first  in 
command  in  the  province  was,  in  this  instance, 
a  praetor.  During  his  absence  in  Spain,  Cae- 
sar replenished  in  some  degree  his  exhausted 
finances,  but  he  soon  became  very  much  dis- 
contented with  so  subordinate  a  position.  His 
discontent  was  greatly  increased  by  his  com- 


64  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.  65. 

Caesar  leaves  Spain.  His  project. 

ing  unexpectedly,  one  day,  at  a  city  then  called 
Hades — the  present  Cadiz — upon  a  statue  of 
Alexander,  which  adorned  one  of  the  public  ed- 
ifices there.  Alexander  died  when  he  was  only 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  having  before  that 
period  made  himself  master  of  the  world.  Cae- 
sar was  himself  now  about  thirty-five  years  of 
age,  and  it  made  him  very  sad  to  reflect  that, 
though  he  had  lived  five  years  longer  than  Al- 
exander, he  had  yet  accomplished  so  little.  He 
was  thus  far  only  the  second  in  a  province, 
while  he  burned  with  an  insatiable  ambition  to 
be  the  first  in  Rome.  The  reflection  made  him 
so  uneasy  that  he  left  his  post  before  his  time 
expired,  and  went  back  to  Rome,  forming,  on 
the  way,  desperate  projects  for  getting  power 
there. 

His  rivals  and  enemies  accused  him  of  vari- 
ous schemes,  more  or  less  violent  and  treasona- 
ble in  their  nature,  but  how  justly  it  is  not  now 
possible  to  ascertain.  They  alleged  that  one  of 
his  plans  was  to  join  some  of  the  neighboring  col- 
onies, whose  inhabitants  wished  to  be  admitted 
to  the  freedom  of  the  city,  and,  making  com- 
mon cause  with  them,  to  raise  an  armed  force 
and  take  possession  of  Rome.  It  was  said  that, 
to  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  this  design, 


B.C.  65-60.]     Made   Consul.  65 

Csesar  accused  of  treason.  He  is  made  sedile. 

an  army  which  they  had  raised  for  the  purpose 
of  an  expedition  against  the  Cilician  pirates 
was  detained  from  its  march,  and  that  Caesar, 
seeing  that  the  government  were  on  their  guard 
against  him,  abandoned  the  plan. 

They  also  charged  him  with  having  formed, 
after  this,  a  plan  within  the  city  for  assassina- 
ting the  senators  in  the  senate  house,  and  then 
usurping,  with  his  fellow-conspirators,  the  su- 
preme power.  Crassus,  who  was  a  man  of  vast 
wealth  and  a  great  friend  of  Caesar's,  was  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  this  plot,  and  was  to  have 
been  made  dictator  if  it  had  succeeded.  But, 
notwithstanding  the  brilliant  prize  with  which 
Caesar  attempted  to  allure  Crassus  to  the  en- 
terprise, his  courage  failed  him  when  the  time 
for  action  arrived.  Courage  and  enterprise,  in 
fact,  ought  not  to  be  expected  of  the  rich  ;  they 
are  the  virtues  of  poverty. 

Though  the  Senate  were  thus  jealous  and 
suspicious  of  Caesar,  and  were  charging  him 
continually  with  these  criminal  designs,  the 
people  were  on  his  side ;  and  the  more  he  was 
hated  by  the  great,  the  more  strongly  he  became 
intrenched  in  the  popular  favor.  They  chose 
him  cedile.  The  aedile  had  the  charge  of  the 
public  edifices  of  the  city,  and  of  the  games, 
E 


66  Julius   C^sar.     [B.C.  60-6O. 

Gladiatorial  shows.  Caesar's  increasing  popularity. 

spectacles,  and  shows  which  were  exhibited  in 
them.  Caesar  entered  with  great  zeal  into  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  this  office.  He  made 
arrangements  for  the  entertainment  of  the  peo- 
ple on  the  most  magnificent  scale,  and  made 
great  additions  and  improvements  to  the  pub- 
lic buildings,  constructing  porticoes  and  piazzas 
around  the  areas  where  his  gladiatorial  shows 
and  the  combats  with  wild  beasts  were  to  be 
exhibited.  He  provided  gladiators  in  such  num- 
bers, and  organized  and  arranged  them  in  such 
a  manner,  ostensibly  for  their  training,  that  his 
enemies  among  the  nobility  pretended  to  believe 
that  he  was  intending  to  use  them  as  an  armed 
force  against  the  government  of  the  city.  They 
accordingly  made  laws  limiting  and  restricting 
the  number  of  the  gladiators  to  be  employed. 
Caesar  then  exhibited  his  shows  on  the  reduced 
scale  which  the  new  laws  required,  taking  care 
that  the  people  should  understand  to  whom  the 
responsibility  for  this  reduction  in  the  scale  of 
their  pleasures  belonged.  They,  of  course,  mur- 
mured against  the  Senate,  and  Caesar  stood 
higher  in  their  favor  than  ever. 

He  was  getting,  however,  by  these  means, 
very  deeply  involved  in  debt;  and,  in  order 
partly  to  retrieve  his  fortunes  in  this  respect, 


B.C.  65-60.] 

Made   Consul. 

67 

Csesar  thwarted. 

Hie  resentment. 

he  made  an  attempt  to  have  Egypt  assigned  to 
him  as  a  province.  Egypt  was  then  an  im- 
mensely rich  and  fertile  country.  It  had,  how- 
ever, never  been  a  Roman  province.  It  was  an 
independent  kingdom,  in  alliance  with  the  Ro- 
mans, and  Caesar's  proposal  that  it  should  be 
assigned  to  him  as  a  province  appeared  very 
extraordinary.  His  pretext  was,  that  the  peo- 
ple of  Egypt  had  recently  deposed  and  expelled 
their  king,  and  that,  consequently,  the  Romans 
might  properly  take  possession  of  it.  The  Sen- 
ate, however,  resisted  this  plan,  either  from 
jealousy  of  Csesar  or  from  a  sense  of  justice 
to  Egypt ;  and,  after  a  violent  contest,  Caesar 
found  himself  compelled  to  give  up  the  design. 
He  felt,  however,  a  strong  degree  of  resent- 
ment against  the  patrician  party  who  had  thus 
thwarted  his  designs.  Accordingly,  in  order  to 
avenge  himself  upon  them,  he  one  night  re- 
placed certain  statues  and  trophies  of  Marius 
in  the  Capitol,  which  had  been  taken  down  by 
order  of  Sylla  when  he  returned  to  power.  Ma- 
rius, as  will  be  recollected,  had  been  the  great 
champion  of  the  popular  party,  and  the  enemy 
of  the  patricians  ;  and,  at  the  time  of  his  down- 
fall, all  the  memorials  of  his  power  and  great- 
ness had  been  every  where  removed  from  Rome, 


68  Julius  Cesar.     [B.C.  65-60. 

The  statues  of  Marius  restored.  Rage  of  the  patricians. 

and  among  them  these  statues  and  trophies, 
which  had  been  erected  in  the  Capitol  in  com- 
memoration of  some  former  victories,  and  had 
remained  there  until  Sylla's  triumph,  when 
they  were  taken  down  and  destroyed.  Csesar 
now  ordered  new  ones  to  be  made,  far  more 
magnificent  than  before.  They  were  made 
secretly,  and  put  up  in  the  night.  His  office 
as  sedile  gave  him  the  necessary  authority. 
The  next  morning,  when  the  people  saw  these 
splendid  monuments  of  their  great  favorite  re- 
stored, the  whole  city  was  animated  with  ex- 
citement and  joy.  The  patricians,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  filled  with  vexation  and  rage.  ' '  Here 
is  a  single  officer,"  said  they,  "  who  is  attempt- 
ing to  restore,  by  his  individual  authority,  what 
has  been  formally  abolished  by  a  decree  of  the 
Senate.  He  is  trying  to  see  how  much  we  will 
bear.  If  he  finds  that  we  will  submit  to  this, 
he  will  attempt  bolder  measures  still."  They 
accordingly  commenced  a  movement  to  have 
the  statues  and  trophies  taken  down  again,  but 
the  people  rallied  in  vast  numbers  in  defense  of 
them.  They  made  the  Capitol  ring  with  their 
shouts  of  applause ;  and  the  Senate,  finding  their 
power  insufficient  to  cope  with  so  great  a  force, 
gave  up  the  point,  and  Caesar  gained  the  day. 


B.C.  65-60.]     Made   Consul.  69 

The  Good  Goddess.  Clodius. 

Csesar  had  married  another  wife  after  the 
death  of  Cornelia.  Her  name  was  Pompeia. 
He  divorced  Pompeia  about  this  time,  under 
very  extraordinary  circumstances.  Among  the 
other  strange  religious  ceremonies  and  celebra- 
tions which  were  observed  in  those  days,  was 
one  called  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries  of  the 
Good  Goddess.  This  celebration  was  held  by 
females  alone,  every  thing  masculine  being  most 
carefully  excluded.  Even  the  pictures  of  men, 
if  there  were  any  upon  the  walls  of  the  house 
where  the  assembly  was  held,  were  covered. 
The  persons  engaged  spent  the  night  together 
in  music  and  dancing  and  various  secret  cere- 
monies, half  pleasure,  half  worship,  according 
to  the  ideas  and  customs  of  the  time. 

The  mysteries  of  the  Good  Goddess  were  to 
be  celebrated  one  night  at  Caesar's  house,  he 
himself  having,  of  course,  withdrawn.  In  the 
middle  of  the  night,  the  whole  company  in  one 
of  the  apartments  were  thrown  into  consterna- 
tion at  finding  that  one  of  their  number  was  a 
man.  He  had  a  smooth  and  youthful-looking 
face,  and  was  very  perfectly  disguised  in  the 
dress  of  a  female.  He  proved  to  be  a  certain 
Clodius,  a  very  base  and  dissolute  young  man, 
though  of  great  wealth  and  high  connections. 


70  Julius  C^sar.     [B.C.  65-60. 

Caesar  divorces  his  wife.  Quarrel  of  Clodius  and  Milo. 

He  had  been  admitted  by  a  female  slave  of  Pom- 
peia's,  whom  he  had  succeeded  in  bribing.  It 
was  suspected  that  it  was  with  Pompeia's  con- 
currence. At  any  rate,  Caesar  immediately  di- 
vorced his  wife.  The  Senate  ordered  an  inquiry 
into  the  affair,  and,  after  the  other  members  of 
the  household  had  given  their  testimony,  Csesar 
himself  was  called  upon,  but  he  had  nothing  to 
say.  He  knew  nothing  about  it.  They  asked 
him,  then,  why  he  had  divorced  Pompeia,  unless 
he  had  some  evidence  for  believing  her  guilty. 
He  replied,  that  a  wife  of  Csesar  must  not  only 
be  without  crime,  but  without  suspicion. 

Clodius  was  a  very  desperate  and  lawless 
character,  and  his  subsequent  history  shows,  in 
a  striking  point  of  view,  the  degree  of  violence 
and  disorder  which  reigned  in  those  times.  He 
became  involved  in  a  bitter  contention  with  an- 
other citizen  whose  name  was  Milo,  and  each, 
gaining  as  many  adherents  as  he  could,  at 
length  drew  almost  the  whole  city  into  their 
quarrel.  Whenever  they  went  out,  they  were 
attended  with  armed  bands,  which  were  con- 
tinually in  danger  of  coming  into  collision.  The 
collision  at  last  came,  quite  a  battle  was  fought, 
and  Clodius  was  killed.  This  made  the  diffi- 
culty worse  than  it  was  before.      Parties  were 


B.C.  65-60.]     Made   Consul.  71 

Violence  of  the  times.  Conspiracy  of  Catiline. 

formed,  and  violent  disputes  arose  on  the  ques- 
tion of  bringing  Milo  to  trial  for  the  alleged 
murder.  He  was  brought  to  trial  at  last,  but 
so  great  was  the  public  excitement,  that  the 
consuls  for  the  time  surrounded  and  filled  the 
whole  Forum  with  armed  men  while  the  trial 
was  proceeding,  to  ensure  the  safety  of  the  court. 
In  fact,  violence  mingled  itself  continually, 
in  those  times,  with  almost  all  public  proceed- 
ings, whenever  any  special  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances occurred  to  awaken  unusual  ex- 
citement. At  one  time,  when  Caesar  was  in 
office,  a  very  dangerous  conspiracy  was  brought 
to  light,  which  was  headed  by  the  notorious 
Catiline.  It  was  directed  chiefly  against  the 
Senate  and  the  higher  departments  of  the  gov- 
ernment ;  it  contemplated ,  in  fact,  their  utter 
destruction,  and  the  establishment  of  an  entirely 
new  government  on  the  ruins  of  the  existing 
constitution.  Caesar  was  himself  accused  of 
a  participation  in  this  plot.  When  it  was  dis- 
covered, Catiline  himself  fled  ;  some  of  the 
other  conspirators  were,  however,  arrested,  and 
there  was  a  long  and  very  excited  debate  in  the 
Senate  on  the  question  of  their  punishment. 
Some  were  for  death.  Caesar,  however,  very 
earnestly  opposed  this  plan,  recommending,  in- 


72  Julius  Cesar.     [B.C.  65-60. 

Warm  debate  in  the  Senate.  Csesar  in  danger  of  violence. 

stead,  the  confiscation  of  the  estates  of  the  con- 
spirators, and  their  imprisonment  in  some  of  the 
distant  cities  of  Italy.  The  dispute  grew  very- 
warm,  Caesar  urging  his  point  with  great  per- 
severance and  determination,  and  with  a  degree 
of  violence  which  threatened  seriously  to  ob- 
struct the  proceedings,  when  a  body  of  armed 
men,  a  sort  of  guard  of  honor  stationed  there, 
gathered  around  him,  and  threatened  him  with 
their  swords.  Quite  a  scene  of  disorder  and 
terror  ensued.  Some  of  the  senators  arose 
hastily  and  fled  from  the  vicinity  of  Caesar's 
seat  to  avoid  the  danger.  Others,  more  coura- 
geous, or  more  devoted  in  their  attachment  to 
him,  gathered  around  him  to  protect  him,  as  far 
as  they  could,  by  interposing  their  bodies  be- 
tween his  person  and  the  weapons  of  his  assail- 
ants. Caesar  soon  left  the  Senate,  and  for  a 
long  time  would  return  to  it  no  more. 

Although  Caesar  was  all  this  time,  on  the 
whole,  rising  in  influence  and  power,  there  were 
still  fluctuations  in  his  fortune,  and  the  tide 
sometimes,  for  a  short  period,  went  strongly 
against  him.  He  was  at  one  time,  when  greatly 
involved  in  debt,  and  embarrassed  in  all  his  af- 
fairs, a  candidate  for  a  very  high  office,  that  of 
Pontifex  Maximus,  or  sovereign  pontiff.     The 


B.C.  65-60.]     Made   Consul.  73 

Caesar's  struggle  for  the  office  of  pontifex  maximus.  He  is  deposed. 

office  of  the  pontifex  was  originally  that  of  build- 
ing and  keeping  custody  of  the  bridges  of  the 
city,  the  name  being  derived  from  the  Latin 
word  pons,  which  signifies  bridge.  To  this, 
however,  had  afterward  been  added  the  care 
of  the  temples,  and  finally  the  regulation  and 
control  of  the  ceremonies  of  religion,  so  that  it 
came  in  the  end  to  be  an  office  of  the  highest 
dignity  and  honor.  Caesar  made  the  most  des- 
perate efforts  to  secure  his  election,  resorting  to 
such  measures,  expending  such  sums,  and  in- 
volving himself  in  debt  to  such  an  extreme,  that, 
if  he  failed,  he  would  be  irretrievably  ruined. 
His  mother,  sympathizing  with  him  in  his  anxi- 
ety, kissed  him  when  he  went  away  from  the 
house  on  the  morning  of  the  election,  and  bade 
him  farewell  with  tears.  He  told  her  that  he 
should  come  home  that  night  the  pontiff,  or  he 
should  never  come  home  at  all.  He  succeeded 
in  gaining  the  election. 

At  one  time  Caesar  was  actually  deposed 
from  a  high  office  which  he  held  by  a  decree  of 
the  Senate.  He  determined  to  disregard  this 
decree,  and  go  on  in  the  discharge  of  his  office 
as  usual.  But  the  Senate,  whose  ascendency 
was  now,  for  some  reason,  once  more  estab- 
lished, prepared  to  prevent  him  by  force  of  arms. 


74  Julius  Cesar.     [B.C.  65-60. 

Caesar's  forbearance.  He  is  restored  to  office. 

Caesar,  finding  that  he  was  not  sustained,  gave 
up  the  contest,  put  off  his  robes  of  office,  and 
went  home.  Two  days  afterward  a  reaction 
occurred.  A  mass  of  the  populace  came  to- 
gether to  his  house,  and  offered  their  assistance 
to  restore  his  rights  and  vindicate  his  honor. 
Caesar,  however,  contrary  to  what  every  one 
would  have  expected  of  him,  exerted  his  in- 
fluence to  calm  and  quiet  the  mob,  and  then 
sent  them  away,  remaining  himself  in  private 
as  before.  The  Senate  had  been  alarmed  at 
the  first  outbreak  of  the  tumult,  and  a  meeting 
had  been  suddenly  convened  to  consider  what 
measures  to  adopt  in  such  a  crisis.  When,  how- 
ever, they  found  that  Caesar  had  himself  inter- 
posed, and  by  his  own  personal  influence  had 
saved  the  city  from  the  danger  which  threat- 
ened it,  they  were  so  strongly  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  his  forbearance  and  generosity,  that 
they  sent  for  him  to  come  to  the  senate  house, 
and,  after  formally  expressing  their  thanks,  they 
canceled  their  former  vote,  and  restored  him  to 
his  office  again.  This  change  in  the  action  of 
the  Senate  does  not,  however,  necessarily  indi- 
cate so  great  a  change  of  individual  sentiment 
as  one  might  at  first  imagine.  There  was,  un- 
doubtedly, a  large  minority  who  were  opposed 


B.C.  65-60.]     Made   Consul.  75 

Caesar  implicated  in  Catiline's  conspiracy.  He  arrests  Vettius. 

to  his  being  deposed  in  the  first  instance  ;  but, 
being  outvoted,  the  decree  of  deposition  was 
passed.  Others  were,  perhaps,  more  or  less 
doubtful.  Caesar's  generous  forbearance  in  re- 
fusing the  offered  aid  of  the  populace  carried 
over  a  number  of  these  sufficient  to  shift  the 
majority,  and  thus  the  action  of  the  body  was 
reversed.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the  sudden  and 
apparently  total  changes  in  the  action  of  delib- 
erative assemblies  which  often  take  place,  and 
which  would  otherwise,  in  some  cases,  be  al- 
most incredible,  are  to  be  explained. 

After  this,  Caesar  became  involved  in  another 
difficulty,  in  consequence  of  the  appearance  of 
some  definite  and  positive  evidence  that  he  was 
connected  with  Catiline  in  his  famous  conspir- 
acy. One  of  the  senators  said  that  Catiline 
himself  had  informed  him  that  Caesar  was  one 
of  the  accomplices  of  the  plot.  Another  wit- 
ness, named  Vettius,  laid  an  information  against 
Caesar  before  a  Roman  magistrate,  and  offered 
to  produce  Caesar's  handwriting  in  proof  of 
his  participation  in  the  conspirator's  designs. 
Caesar  was  very  much  incensed,  and  his  manner 
of  vindicating  himself  from  these  serious  charges 
was  as  singular  as  many  of  his  other  deeds.  He 
arrested  Vettius,  and  sentenced  him  to  pay  a 


76  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C.  60. 

Caesar's  embarrassment.  Spain  is  assigned  to  him. 

heavy  fine,  and  to  be  imprisoned  ;  and  he  con- 
trived also  to  expose  him,  in  the  course  of  the 
proceedings,  to  the  mob  in  the  Forum,  who 
were  always  ready  to  espouse  Caesar's  cause, 
and  who,  on  this  occasion,  beat  Vettius  so  un- 
mercifully, that  he  barely  escaped  with  his  life. 
The  magistrate,  too,  was  thrown  into  prison  for 
having  dared  to  take  an  information  against  a 
superior  officer. 

At  last  Csesar  became  so  much  involved  in 
debt,  through  the  boundless  extravagance  of  his 
expenditures,  that  something  must  be  done  to 
replenish  his  exhausted  finances.  He  had,  how- 
ever, by  this  time,  risen  so  high  in  official  in- 
fluence and  power,  that  he  succeeded  in  having 
Spain  assigned  to  him  as  his  province,  and  he 
began  to  make  preparations  to  proceed  to  it. 
His  creditors,  however,  interposed,  unwilling  to 
let  him  go  without  giving  them  security.  In 
this  dilemma,  Csesar  succeeded  in  making  an 
arrangement  with  Crassus,  who  has  already 
been  spoken  of  as  a  man  of  unbounded  wealth 
and  great  ambition,  but  not  possessed  of  any 
considerable  degree  of  intellectual  power.  Cras- 
sus consented  to  give  the  necessary  security. 
with  an  understanding  that  Csesar  was  to  re- 
pay him  by  exerting  his  political  influence  in 


B.C.  60.1  Made   Consul.  77 


The  Swiss  hamlet.  Caesar's  ambition. 

his  favor.  So  soon  as  this  arrangement  was 
made,  Caesar  set  off  in  a  sudden  and  private 
manner,  as  if  he  expected  that  otherwise  some 
new  difficulty  would  intervene. 

He  went  to  Spain  by  land,  passing  through 
Switzerland  on  the  way.  He  stopped  with  his 
attendants  one  night  at  a  very  insignificant  vil- 
lage of  shepherds'  huts  among  the  mountains. 
Struck  with  the  poverty  and  worthlessness  of 
all  they  saw  in  this  wretched  hamlet,  Caesar's 
friends  were  wondering  whether  the  jealousy, 
rivalry,  and  ambition  which  reigned  among 
men  every  where  else  in  the  world  could  rind 
any  footing  there,  when  Caesar  told  them  that, 
for  his  part,  he  should  rather  choose  to  be  first 
in  such  a  village  as  that  than  the  second  at 
Rome.  The  story  has  been  repeated  a  thousand 
times,  and  told  to  every  successive  generation 
now  for  nearly  twenty  centuries,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  peculiar  type  and  character  of  the 
ambition  which  controls  such  a  soul  as  that  of 
Caesar. 

Caesar  was  very  successful  in  the  administra- 
tion of  his  province  ;  that  is  to  say,  he  returned 
in  a  short  time  with  considerable  military  glory, 
and  with  money  enough  to  pay  all  his  debts,  and 
furnish  him  with  means  for  fresh  electioneering. 


78  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.59. 

Manner  of  choosing  the  consuls.  Pompey  and  Crassus. 

He  now  felt  strong  enough  to  aspire  to  the 
office  of  consul,  which  was  the  highest  office  of 
the  Roman  state.  When  the  line  of  kings  had 
been  deposed,  the  Romans  had  vested  the  su- 
preme magistracy  in  the  hands  of  two  consuls, 
who  were  chosen  annually  in  a  general  election, 
the  formalities  of  which  were  all  very  carefully 
arranged.  The  current  of  popular  opinion  was, 
of  course,  in  Csesar's  favor,  but  he  had  many 
powerful  rivals  and  enemies  among  the  great, 
who,  however,  hated  and  opposed  each  other  as 
well  as  him.  There  was  at  that  time  a  very 
bitter  feud  between  Pompey  and  Crassus,  each 
of  them  struggling  for  power  against  the  efforts 
of  the  other.  Pompey  possessed  great  influence 
through  his  splendid  abilities  and  his  military 
renown.  Crassus,  as  has  already  been  stated, 
was  powerful  through  his  wealth.  Caesar,  who 
had  some  influence  with  them  both,  now  con- 
ceived the  bold  design  of  reconciling  them,  and 
then  of  availing  himself  of  their  united  aid  in 
accomplishing  his  own  particular  ends. 

He  succeeded  perfectly  well  in  this  manage- 
ment. He  represented  to  them  that,  by  con- 
tending against  each  other,  they  only  exhausted 
their  own  powers,  and  strengthened  the  arms 
of  their  common  enemies.     He  proposed  to  them 


B.C.  59.]  Made   Consul.  79 

The  first  triumvirate.  Caesar  a  candidate  for  the  consulship. 

to  unite  with  one  another  and  with  him,  and 
thus  make  common  cause  to  promote  their  com- 
mon interest  and  advancement.  They  willingly 
acceded  to  this  plan,  and  a  triple  league  was  ac- 
cordingly formed,  in  which  they  each  bound 
themselves  to  promote,  by  every  means  in  his 
power,  the  political  elevation  of  the  others,  and 
not  to  take  any  public  step  or  adopt  any  meas- 
ures without  the  concurrence  of  the  three. 
Csesar  faithfully  observed  the  obligations  of  this 
league  so  long  as  he  could  use  his  two  associ- 
ates to  promote  his  own  ends,  and  then  he  aban- 
doned it. 

Having,  however,  completed  this  arrange- 
ment, he  was  now  prepared  to  push  vigorously 
his  claims  to  be  elected  consul.  He  associated 
with  his  own  name  that  of  Lucceius,  who  was 
a  man  of  great  wealth,  and  who  agreed  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  election  for  the  sake  of  the 
honor  of  being  consul  with  Csesar.  Caesar's  en- 
emies, however,  knowing  that  they  probably 
could  not  prevent  his  election,  determined  to 
concentrate  their  strength  in  the  effort  to  pre- 
vent his  having  the  colleague  he  desired.  They 
made  choice,  therefore,  of  a  certain  Bibulus  as 
their  candidate.  Bibulus  had  always  been  a 
political  opponent  of  Caesar's,  and  they  thought 


80  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.59. 

Caesar  assumes  the  whole  power.  He  imprisons  Cato. 

that,  by  associating  him  with  Caesar  in  the  su- 
preme magistracy,  the  pride  and  ambition  of 
their  great  adversary  might  be  held  somewhat  in 
check.  They  accordingly  made  a  contribution 
among  themselves  to  enable  Bibulus  to  expend 
as  much  money  in  bribery  as  Lucceius,  and  the 
canvass  went  on. 

It  resulted  in  the  election  of  Caesar  and  Bib- 
ulus. They  entered  upon  the  duties  of  their 
office  ;  but  Caesar,  almost  entirely  disregarding 
his  colleague,  began  to  assume  the  whole  power, 
and  proposed  and  carried  measure  after  measure 
of  the  most  extraordinary  character,  all  aiming 
at  the  gratification  of  the  populace.  He  was  at 
first  opposed  violently  both  by  Bibulus  and  by 
many  leading  members  of  the  Senate,  especially 
by  Cato,  a  stern  and  inflexible  patriot,  whom 
neither  fear  of  danger  nor  hope  of  reward  could 
move  from  what  he  regarded  his  duty.  But 
Caesar  was  now  getting  strong  enough  to  put 
down  the  opposition  which  he  encountered  with- 
out much  scruple  as  to  the  means.  He  ordered 
Cato  on  one  occasion  to  be  arrested  in  the  Sen- 
ate and  sent  to  prison.  Another  influential 
member  of  the  Senate  rose  and  was  going  out 
with  him.  Caesar  asked  him  where  he  was 
going.     He  said  he  was  going  with  Cato.     He 


B.C.  59.]  Made   Consul.  81 

Eibulus  retires  to  his  house.  The  year  of  "  Julius  and  Caasar." 

would  rather,  he  said,  be  with  Cato  in  prison, 
than  in  the  Senate  with  Caesar. 

Caesar  treated  Bibulus  also  with  so  much 
neglect,  and  assumed  so  entirely  the  whole  con- 
trol of  the  consular  power,  to  the  utter  exclusion 
of  his  colleague,  that  Bibulus  at  last,  com- 
pletely discouraged  and  chagrined,  abandoned 
all  pretension  to  official  authority,  retired  to 
his  house,  and  shut  himself  up  in  perfect  se- 
clusion, leaving  Caesar  to  his  own  way.  It  was 
customary  among  the  Romans,  in  their  histori- 
cal and  narrative  writings,  to  designate  the  suc- 
cessive years,  not  by  a  numerical  date  as  with 
us,  but  by  the  names  of  the  consuls  who  held 
office  in  them.  Thus,  in  the  time  of  Caesar's 
consulship,  the  phrase  would  have  been,  "In  the 
year  of  Caesar  and  Bibulus,  consuls,"  according 
to  the  ordinary  usage;  but  the  wags  of  the  city, 
in  order  to  make  sport  of  the  assumptions  of 
Caesar  and  the  insignificance  of  Bibulus,  used 
to  say,  "  In  the  year  of  Julius  and  Caesar,  con- 
suls," rejecting  the  name  of  Bibulus  altogether, 
and  taking  the  two  names  of  Caesar  to  make 
out  the  necessary  duality. 
F 


82  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C. 58. 

Cgesar  aspires  to  be  a  soldier.  His  success  and  celebrity. 


Chapter  IV. 
The  Conquest  of  Gaul. 

IN  attaining  to  the  consulship,  Caesar  had 
reached  the  highest  point  of  elevation  which 
it  was  possible  to  reach  as  a  mere  citizen  of 
Rome.  His  ambition  was,  however,  of  course, 
not  satisfied.  The  only  way  to  acquire  higher 
distinction  and  to  rise  to  higher  power  was  to 
enter  upon  a  career  of  foreign  conquest.  Csesar 
therefore  aspired  now  to  be  a  soldier.  He  ac- 
cordingly obtained  the  command  of  an  army, 
and  entered  upon  a  course  of  military  campaigns 
in  the  heart  of  Europe,  which  he  continued  for 
eight  years.  These  eight  years  constitute  one 
of  the  most  important  and  strongly-marked  pe- 
riods of  his  life.  He  was  triumphantly  suc- 
cessful in  his  military  career,  and  he  made,  ac- 
cordingly, a  vast  accession  to  his  celebrity  and 
power,  in  his  own  day,  by  the  results  of  his  cam- 
paigns. He  also  wrote,  himself,  an  account  of 
his  adventures  during  this  period,  in  which  the 
events  are  recorded  in  so  lucid  and  in  so  elo- 
quent a  manner,  that  the  narrations  have  con^ 


B.C. 58.]      Conquest  of  Gaul.  83 

Scenes  of  Caesar's  exploits. Cisalpine  and  Transalpine  Gaul. 

tinued  to  be  read  by  every  successive  genera- 
tion of  scholars  down  to  the  present  day,  and 
they  have  had  a  great  influence  in  extending 
and  perpetuating  his  fame. 

The  principal  scenes  of  the  exploits  which 
Caesar  performed  during  the  period  of  this  his 
first  great  military  career,  were  the  north  of 
Italy,  Switzerland,  France,  Germany,  and  En- 
gland, a  great  tract  of  country,  nearly  all  of 
which  he  overran  and  conquered.  A  large  por- 
tion of  this  territory  was  called  Gaul  in  those 
days  ;  the  part  on  the  Italian  side  of  the  Alps 
being  named  Cisalpine  Gaul,  while  that  which 
lay  beyond  was  designated  as  Transalpine. 
Transalpine  Gaul  was  substantially  what  is 
now  France.  There  was  a  part  of  Transalpine 
Gaul  which  had  been  already  conquered  and 
reduced  to  a  Roman  province.  It  was  called 
The  Province  then,  and  has  retained  the  name, 
with  a  slight  change  in  orthography,  to  the  pres- 
ent day.     It  is  now  known  as  Provence. 

The  countries  which  Caesar  went  to  invade 
were  occupied  by  various  nations  and  tribes, 
many  of  which  were  well  organized  and  war- 
like, and  some  of  them  were  considerably  civil- 
ized and  wealthy.  They  had  extended  tracts 
of  cultivated  land,  the  slopes  of  the  hills  and  the 


84                     Julius  C^sar. 

[B.C.  58-50. 

Condition  of  Gaul  in  Caesar's  day. 

Singular  cavalry. 

mountain  sides  being  formed  into  green  pastu- 
rages, which  were  covered  with  flocks  of  goats, 
and  sheep,  and  herds  of  cattle,  while  the  smooth- 
er and  more  level  tracts  were  adorned  with 
smiling  vineyards  and  broadly-extended  fields 
of  waving  grain.  They  had  cities,  forts,  ships, 
and  armies.  Their  manners  and  customs  would 
be  considered  somewhat  rude  by  modern  na- 
tions, and  some  of  their  usages  of  war  were  half 
barbarian.  For  example,  in  one  of  the  nations 
which  Csesar  encountered,  he  found,  as  he  says 
in  his  narrative,  a  corps  of  cavalry,  as  a  con- 
stituent part  of  the  army,  in  which,  to  every 
horse,  there  were  two  men,  one  the  rider,  and 
the  other  a  sort  of  foot  soldier  and  attendant. 
If  the  battle  went  against  them,  and  the  squad- 
ron were  put  to  their  speed  in  a  retreat,  these 
footmen  would  cling  to  the  manes  of  the  horses, 
and  then,  half  running,  half  flying,  they  would 
be  borne  along  over  the  field,  thus  keeping  al- 
ways at  the  side  of  their  comrades,  and  escaping 
with  them  to  a  place  of  safety. 

But,  although  the  Romans  were  inclined  to 
consider  these  nations  as  only  half  civilized,  still 
there  would  be  great  glory,  as  Csesar  thought, 
in  subduing  them,  and  probably  great  treasure 
would  be  secured  in  the  conquest,  both  by  the 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  85 

Csesar's-plans.  His  pretexts. 

plunder  and  confiscation  of  governmental  prop- 
erty,  and  by  the  tribute  which  would  be  col- 
lected in  taxes  from  the  people  of  the  countries 
subdued.  Caesar  accordingly  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  an  army  of  three  Roman  legions, 
which  he  contrived,  by  means  of  a  great  deal 
of  political  maneuvering  and  management,  to 
have  raised  and  placed  under  his  command. 
One  of  these  legions,  which  was  called  the  tenth 
legion,  was  his  favorite  corps,  on  account  of  the 
bravery  and  hardihood  which  they  often  dis- 
played. At  the  head  of  these  legions,  Caesar 
set  out  for  Gaul.  He  was  at  this  time  not  far 
from  forty  years  of  age. 

Csesar  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  pretexts  for 
making  war  upon  any  of  these  various  nations 
that  he  might  desire  to  subdue.  They  were, 
of  course,  frequently  at  war  with  each  other, 
and  there  were  at  all  times  standing  topics  of 
controversy  and  unsettled  disputes  among  them. 
Caesar  had,  therefore,  only  to  draw  near  to  the 
scene  of  contention,  and  then  to  take  sides  with 
one  party  or  the  other,  it  mattered  little  with 
which,  for  the  affair  almost  always  resulted,  in 
the  end,  in  his  making  himself  master  of  both. 
The  manner,  however,  in  which  this  sort  of  op- 
eration was  performed,  can  best  be  illustrated 


86  Julius   Caesar.     [B.C.58-50. 

Ariovistus.  The  iEduans. 

by  an  example,  and  we  will  take  for  the  pur- 
pose the  case  of  Ariovistus. 

Ariovistus  was  a  German  king.  He  had 
been  nominally  a  sort  of  ally  of  the  Romans. 
He  had  extended  his  conquests  across  the  Rhine 
into  Gaul,  and  he  held  some  nations  there  as 
his  tributaries.  Among  these,  the  iEduans 
were  a  prominent  party,  and,  to  simplify  the 
account,  we  will  take  their  name  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  all  who  were  concerned.  When 
Csesar  came  into  the  region  of  the  iEduans,  he 
entered  into  some  negotiations  with  them,  in 
which  they,  as  he  alleges,  asked  his  assistance 
to  enable  them  to  throw  off  the  dominion  of 
their  German  enemy.  It  is  probable,  in  fact, 
that  there  was  some  proposition  of  this  kind 
from  them,  for  Csesar  had  abundant  means  of 
inducing  them  to  make  it,  if  he  was  disposed ; 
and  the  receiving  of  such  a  communication 
furnished  the  most  obvious  and  plausible  pre- 
text to  authorize  and  justify  his  interposition. 

Csesar  accordingly  sent  a  messenger  across 
the  Rhine  to  Ariovistus,  saying  that  he  wished 
to  have  an  interview  with  him  on  business  of 
importance,  and  asking  him  to  name  a  time 
which  would  be  convenient  to  him  for  the  inter- 
view, and  also  to  appoint  some  place  in  Gaul 
where  he  would  attend. 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  87 

Cassar's  negotiations  with  Ariovistus.  His  message. 

To  this  Ariovistus  replied,  that  if  he  had, 
himself,  any  business  with  Caesar,  he  would 
have  waited  upon  him  to  propose  it ;  and,  in 
the  same  manner,  if  Caesar  wished  to  see  him, 
he  must  come  into  his  own  dominions.  He  said 
that  it  would  not  be  safe  for  him  to  come  into 
Gaul  without  an  army,  and  that  it  was  not  con- 
venient for  him  to  raise  and  equip  an  army  for 
such  a  purpose  at  that  time. 

Caesar  sent  again  to  Ariovistus  to  say,  that 
since  he  was  so  unmindful  of  his  obligations  to 
the  Roman  people  as  to  refuse  an  interview 
with  him  on  business  of  common  interest,  he 
would  state  the  particulars  that  he  required  of 
him.  The  iEduans,  he  said,  were  now  his  al- 
lies, and  under  his  protection ;  and  Ariovistus 
must  send  back  the  hostages  which  he  held  from 
them,  and  bind  himself  henceforth  not  to  send 
any  more  troops  across  the  Rhine,  nor  make  war 
upon  the  iEduans,  or  injure  them  in  any  way. 
If  he  complied  with  these  terms,  all  would  be 
well.  If  he  did  not,  Caesar  said  that  he  should 
not  himself  disregard  the  just  complaints  of  his 
allies. 

Ariovistus  had  no  fear  of  Caesar.  Caesar  had, 
in  fact,  thus  far,  not  begun  to  acquire  the  mil- 
itary renown  to  which  he  afterward  attained. 


88  Julius   Caesar.     [B.C. 58-50. 

Ariovistus's  spirited  reply  to  Csesar.  Preparations  for  war. 

Ariovistus  had,  therefore,  no  particular  cause 
to  dread  his  power.  He  sent  him  back  word 
that  he  did  not  understand  why  Csesar  should 
interfere  between  him  and  his  conquered  prov- 
ince. "  The  ^Eduans,"  said  he,  "  tried  the  for- 
tune of  war  with  me,  and  were  overcome  ;  and 
they  must  abide  the  issue.  The  Romans  man- 
age their  conquered  provinces  as  they  judge 
proper,  without  holding  themselves  accountable 
to  any  one.  I  shall  do  the  same  with  mine. 
All  that  I  can  say  is,  that  so  long  as  the  iEdu- 
ans  submit  peaceably  to  my  authority,  and  pay 
their  tribute,  I  shall  not  molest  them ;  as  to 
your  threat  that  you  shall  not  disregard  their 
complaints,  you  must  know  that  no  one  has 
ever  made  war  upon  me  but  to  his  own  destruc- 
tion, and,  if  you  wish  to  see  how  it  will  turn  out 
in  your  case,  you  may  make  the  experiment 
whenever  you  please." 

Both  parties  immediately  prepared  for  war. 
Ariovistus,  instead  of  waiting  to  be  attacked, 
assembled  his  army,  crossed  the  Rhine,  and  ad- 
vanced into  the  territories  from  which  Caesar 
had  undertaken  to  exclude  him. 

As  Csesar,  however,  began  to  make  his  ar- 
rangements for  putting  his  army  in  motion  to 
meet  his  approaching  enemy,  there  began  to  cir- 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  89 

Panic  in  the  Roman  army.  Caesar's  address. 

culate  throughout  the  camp  such  extraordinary 
stories  of  the  terrible  strength  and  courage  of 
the  German  soldiery  as  to  produce  a  very  gen- 
eral panic.  So  great,  at  length,  became  the 
anxiety  and  alarm,  that  even  the  officers  were 
wholly  dejected  and  discouraged;  and  as  for  the 
men,  they  were  on  the  very  eve  of  mutiny. 

When  Caesar  understood  this  state  of  things, 
he  called  an  assembly  of  the  troops,  and  made 
an  address  to  them.  He  told  them  that  he  was 
astonished  to  learn  to  what  an  extent  an  un- 
worthy despondency  and  fear  had  taken  pos- 
session of  their  minds,  and  how  little  confidence 
they  reposed  in  him,  their  general.  And  then, 
after  some  further  remarks  about  the  duty  of  a 
soldier  to  be  ready  to  go  wherever  his  command- 
er leads  him,  and  presenting  also  some  consid- 
erations in  respect  to  the  German  troops  with 
which  they  were  going  to  contend,  in  order  to 
show  them  that  they  had  no  cause  to  fear,  he 
ended  by  saying  that  he  had  not  been  fully  de- 
cided as  to  the  time  of  marching,  but  that  now 
he  had  concluded  to  give  orders  for  setting  out 
the  next  morning  at  three  o'clock,  that  he  might 
learn,  as  soon  as  possible,  who  were  too  coward- 
ly to  follow  him.  He  would  go  himself,  he  said, 
if  he  was  attended  by  the  tenth  legion  alone. 


90  Julius  Cesar.     [B.C.  58-50. 

Effect  of  Caesar's  address.  Proposals  for  an  interview. 

He  was  sure  that  they  would  not  shrink  from 
any  undertaking  in  which  he  led  the  way. 

The  soldiers,  moved  partly  by  shame,  partly 
by  the  decisive  and  commanding  tone  which 
their  general  assumed,  and  partly  reassured  by 
the  courage  and  confidence  which  he  seemed  to 
feel,  laid  aside  their  fears,  and  vied  with  each 
other  henceforth  in  energy  and  ardor.  The  ar- 
mies approached  each  other.  Ariovistus  sent 
to  Caesar,  saying  that  now,  if  he  wished  it,  he 
was  ready  for  an  interview.  Caesar  acceded  to 
the  suggestion,  and  the  arrangements  for  a  con- 
ference were  made,  each  party,  as  usual  in  such 
cases,  taking  every  precaution  to  guard  against 
the  treachery  of  the  other. 

Between  the  two  camps  there  was  a  rising 
ground,  in  the  middle  of  an  open  plain,  where  it 
was  decided  that  the  conference  should  be  held. 
Ariovistus  proposed  that  neither  party  should 
bring  any  foot  soldiers  to  the  place  of  meeting, 
but  cavalry  alone ;  and  that  these  bodies  of  cav- 
alry, brought  by  the  respective  generals,  should 
remain  at  the  foot  of  the  eminence  on  either 
side,  while  Caesar  and  Ariovistus  themselves, 
attended  each  by  only  ten  followers  on  horse- 
back, should  ascend  it.  This  plan  was  acceded 
to  by  Csesar,  and  a  long  conference  was  held  in 


B.C. 58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  91 

Conference  between  Caesar  and  ATiovistus.     Cassar's  messenger  seized. 

this  way  between  the  two  generals,  as  they  sat 
upon  their  horses,  on  the  summit  of  the  hill. 

The  two  generals,  in  their  discussion,  only 
repeated  in  substance  what  they  had  said  in 
their  embassages  before,  and  made  no  progress 
toward  coming  to  an  understanding.  At  length 
Csesar  closed  the  conference  and  withdrew. 
Some  days  afterward  Ariovistus  sent  a  request 
to  Csesar,  asking  that  he  would  appoint  another 
interview,  or  else  that  he  would  depute  one  of 
his  officers  to  proceed  to  Ariovistus's  camp  and 
receive  a  communication  which  he  wished  to 
make  to  him.  Csesar  concluded  not  to  grant 
another  interview,  and  he  did  not  think  it  pru- 
dent to  send  any  one  of  his  principal  officers 
as  an  embassador,  for  fear  that  he  might  be 
treacherously  seized  and  held  as  a  hostage.  He 
accordingly  sent  an  ordinary  messenger,  accom- 
panied by  one  or  two  men.  These  men  were  all 
seized  and  put  in  irons  as  soon  as  they  reached 
the  camp  of  Ariovistus,  and  Csesar  now  prepared 
in  earnest  for  giving  his  enemy  battle. 

He  proved  himself  as  skillful  and  efficient  in 
arranging  and  managing  the  combat  as  he  had 
been  sagacious  and  adroit  in  the  negotiations 
which  preceded  it.  Several  days  were  spent 
in  maneuvers  and  movements,  by  which  each 


92  Julius  Cesar.    [B.C. 58-50. 

Defeat  of  the  Germans.  Release  of  Caesar's  messenger. 

party  endeavored  to  gain  some  advantage  over 
the  other  in  respect  to  their  position  in  the  ap- 
proaching struggle.  When  at  length  the  com- 
bat came,  Caesar  and  his  legions  were  entirely 
and  triumphantly  successful.  The  Germans 
were  put  totally  to  flight.  Their  baggage  and 
stores  were  all  seized,  and  the  troops  themselves 
fled  in  dismay  by  all  the  roads  which  led  back 
to  the  Rhine ;  and  there  those  who  succeeded 
in  escaping  death  from  the  Romans,  who  pur- 
sued them  all  the  way,  embarked  in  boats  and 
upon  rafts,  and  returned  to  their  homes.  Ari- 
ovistus  himself  found  a  small  boat,  in  which, 
with  one  or  two  followers,  he  succeeded  in  get- 
ting across  the  stream. 

As  Csesar,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  his  troops, 
was  pursuing  the  enemy  in  this  their  flight,  he 
overtook  one  party  who  had  a  prisoner  with 
them  confined  by  iron  chains  fastened  to  his 
limbs,  and  whom  they  were  hurrying  rapidly 
along.  This  prisoner  proved  to  be  the  messen- 
ger that  Csesar  had  sent  to  Ariovistus's  camp, 
and  whom  he  had,  as  Caesar  alleges,  treacher- 
ously detained.  Of  course,  he  was  overjoyed  to 
be  recaptured  and  set  at  liberty.  The  man 
said  that  three  times  they  had  drawn  lots  to  see 
whether  they  should  burn  him  alive  then,  or  re- 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  93 


Results  of  the  victory.  Caesar's  continued  success. 

serve  the  pleasure  for  a  future  occasion,  and 
that  every  time  the  lot  had  resulted  in  his  favor. 
The  consequence  of  this  victory  was,  that 
Caesar's  authority  was  established  triumphantly 
over  all  that  part  of  Gaul  which  he  had  thus 
freed  from  Ariovistus's  sway.  Other  parts  of 
the  country,  too,  were  pervaded  by  the  fame  of 
his  exploits,  and  the  people  every  where  began 
to  consider  what  action  it  would  be  incumbent 
on  them  to  take,  in  respect  to  the  new  military 
power  which  had  appeared  so  suddenly  among 
them.  Some  nations  determined  to  submit 
without  resistance,  and  to  seek  the  conqueror's 
alliance  and  protection.  Others,  more  bold, 
or  more  confident  of  their  strength,  began  to 
form  combinations  and  to  arrange  plans  for  re- 
sisting him.  But,  whenever  they  did,  the  re- 
sult in  the  end  was  the  same.  Caesar's  as- 
cendency was  every  where  and  always  gaining 
ground.  Of  course,  it  is  impossible  in  the  com- 
pass of  a  single  chapter,  which  is  all  that  can 
be  devoted  to  the  subject  in  this  volume,  to 
give  any  regular  narrative  of  the  events  of  the 
eight  years  of  Caesar's  military  career  in  Gaul. 
Marches,  negotiations,  battles,  and  victories 
mingled  with  and  followed  each  other  in  a  long 
succession,  the  particulars  of  which  it  would  re- 


94  Julius   Caesar.     [B.C.  58-50. 

Account  of  the  northern  nations.  Their  strange  customs. 

quire  a  volume  to  detail,  every  thing  resulting 
most  successfully  for  the  increase  of  Csesar's 
power  and  the  extension  of  his  fame. 

Csesar  gives,  in  his  narrative,  very  extraordi- 
nary accounts  of  the  customs  and  modes  of  life 
of  some  of  the  people  that  he  encountered. 
There  was  one  country,  for  example,  in  which 
all  the  lands  were  common,  and  the  whole  struc- 
ture of  society  was  based  on  the  plan  of  forming 
the  community  into  one  great  martial  band. 
The  nation  was  divided  into  a  hundred  cantons, 
each  containing  two  thousand  men  capable  of 
bearing  arms.  If  these  were  all  mustered  into 
service  together,  they  would  form,  of  course,  an 
army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men.  It  was 
customary,  however,  to  organize  only  one  half 
of  them  into  an  army,  while  the  rest  remained 
at  home  to  till  the  ground  and  tend  the  flocks 
and  herds.  These  two  great  divisions  inter- 
changed their  work  every  year,  the  soldiers  be- 
coming husbandmen,  and  the  husbandmen  sol- 
diers. Thus  they  all  became  equally  inured  to 
the  hardships  and  dangers  of  the  camp,  and  to 
the  more  continuous  but  safer  labors  of  agricul- 
tural toil.  Their  fields  were  devoted  to  pastur- 
age more  than  to  tillage,  for  flocks  and  herds 
could  be  driven  from  place  to  place,  and  thus 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  op  Gaul.  95 

Well-trained  horses.  Caesar's  popularity  with  the  army. 

more  easily  preserved  from  the  depredations  of 
enemies  than  fields  of  grain.  The  children  grew 
up  almost  perfectly  wild  from  infancy,  and  hard- 
ened themselves  by  bathing  in  cold  streams, 
wearing  very  little  clothing,  and  making  long 
hunting  excursions  among  the  mountains.  The 
people  had  abundance  of  excellent  horses,  which 
the  young  men  were  accustomed,  from  their 
earliest  years,  to  ride  without  saddle  or  bridle, 
the  horses  being  trained  to  obey  implicitly  every 
command.  So  admirably  disciplined  were  they, 
that  sometimes,  in  battle,  the  mounted  men 
would  leap  from  their  horses  and  advance  as 
foot  soldiers  to  aid  the  other  infantry,  leaving 
the  horses  to  stand  until  they  returned.  The 
horses  would  not  move  from  the  spot ;  the  men, 
when  the  object  for  which  they  had  dismounted 
was  accomplished,  would  come  back,  spring  to 
their  seats  again,  and  once  more  become  a  squad- 
ron of  cavalry. 

Although  Csesar  was  very  energetic  and  de- 
cided in  the  government  of  his  army,  he  was 
extremely  popular  with  his  soldiers  in  all  these 
campaigns.  He  exposed  his  men,  of  course,  to 
a  great  many  privations  and  hardships,  but  then 
he  evinced,  in  many  cases,  such  a  willingness 
to  bear  his  share  of  them,  that  the  men  were 


96  Julius   C^sar.    [B.C.  58-50. 

Caesar's  military  habits.  His  bridge  across  the  Rhine. 

very  little  inclined  to  complain.  He  moved  at 
the  head  of  the  column  when  his  troops  were 
advancing  on  a  march,  generally  on  horseback, 
but  often  on  foot;  and  Suetonius  says  that  he 
used  to  go  bareheaded  on  such  occasions,  what- 
ever was  the  state  of  the  weather,  though  it  is 
difficult  to  see  what  the  motive  of  this  appa- 
rently needless  exposure  could  be,  unless  it  was 
for  effect,  on  some  special  or  unusual  occasion. 
Csesar  would  ford  or  swim  rivers  with  his  men 
whenever  there  was  no  other  mode  of  transit, 
sometimes  supported,  it  was  said,  by  bags  in- 
flated with  air,  and  placed  under  his  arms.  At 
one  time  he  built  a  bridge  across  the  Rhine,  to 
enable  his  army  to  cross  that  river.  This  bridge 
was  built  with  piles  driven  down  into  the  sand, 
which  supported  a  flooring  of  timbers.  Csesar, 
considering  it  quite  an  exploit  thus  to  bridge 
the  Rhine,  wrote  a  minute  account  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  work  was  constructed,  and  the 
description  is  almost  exactly  in  accordance  with 
the  principles  and  usages  of  modern  carpentry. 
After  the  countries  which  were  the  scene  of 
these  conquests  were  pretty  well  subdued,  Cse- 
sar established  on  some  of  the  great  routes  of 
travel  a  system  of  posts,  that  is,  he  stationed 
supplies  of  horses  at  intervals  of  from  ten  to 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  97 

System  of  posts.  Their  great  utility. 

twenty  miles  along  the  way,  so  that  he  himself, 
or  the  officers  of  his  army,  or  any  couriers  whom 
he  might  have  occasion  to  send  with  dispatches, 
could  travel  with  great  speed  by  finding  a  fresh 
horse  ready  at  every  stage.     By  this  means  he 
sometimes  traveled  himself  a  hundred  miles  in 
a  day.     This  system,  thus  adopted  for  military 
purposes  in  Csesar's  time,  has  been  continued 
in  almost  all  countries  of  Europe  to  the  present 
age,  and  is  applied  to  traveling  in  carriages  as 
well  as  on  horseback.     A  family  party  purchase 
a  carriage,  and  arranging  within  it  all  the  com- 
forts and  conveniences  which  they  will  require 
on  the  journey,  they  set  out,  taking  these  post 
horses,  fresh  at  each  village,  to  draw  them  to 
the  next.      Thus  they  can  go  at  any  rate  of 
speed  which  they  desire,  instead  of  being  limited 
in  their  movements  by  the  powers  of  endurance 
of  one  set  of  animals,  as  they  would  be  com- 
pelled to  be  if  they  were  to  travel  with  their 
own.      This  plan  has,  for  some  reason,  never 
been  introduced  into  America,  and  it  is  now 
probable  that  it  never  will  be,  as  the  railway 
system  will  doubtless  supersede  it. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  enterprises 
which  Csesar  undertook  during  the  period  of 
these  campaigns  was  his  excursion  into  Great 
G 


98  Julius  Cesar.    [B.C.  58-50. 

Caesar's  invasion  of  Britain.  His  pretext  for  it. 

Britain.  The  real  motive  of  this  expedition 
was  probably  a  love  of  romantic  adventure, 
and  a  desire  to  secure  for  himself  at  Rome  the 
glory  of  having  penetrated  into  remote  regions 
which  Roman  armies  had  never  reached  before. 
The  pretext,  however,  which  he  made  to  justify 
his  invading  the  territories  of  the  Britons  was, 
that  the  people  of  the  island  were  accustomed 
to  come  across  the  Channel  and  aid  the  Gauls 
in  their  wars. 

In  forming  his  arrangements  for  going  into 
England,  the  first  thing  was,  to  obtain  all  the 
information  which  was  accessible  in  Gaul  in  re- 
spect to  the  country.  There  were,  in  those  days, 
great  numbers  of  traveling  merchants,  who  went 
from  one  nation  to  another  to  purchase  and  sell, 
taking  with  them  such  goods  as  were  most  easy 
of  transportation.  These  merchants,  of  course, 
were  generally  possessed  of  a  great  deal  of  in- 
formation in  respect  to  the  countries  which  they 
had  visited,  and  Csesar  called  together  as  many 
of  them  as  he  could  find,  when  he  had  reached 
the  northern  shores  of  France,  to  inquire  about 
the  modes  of  crossing  the  Channel,  the  harbors 
on  the  English  side,  the  geographical  conforma- 
tion of  the  country,  and  the  military  resources 
of  the  people.      He  found,  however,  that  the 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  99 

Caesar  consults  the  merchants.  Volusenus. 

merchants  could  give  him  very  little  informa- 
tion. They  knew  that  Britain  was  an  island, 
but  they  did  not  know  its  extent  or  its  bounda- 
ries ;  and  they  could  tell  him  very  little  of  the 
character  or  customs  of  the  people.  They  said 
that  they  had  only  been  accustomed  to  land 
upon  the  southern  shore,  and  to  transact  all 
their  business  there,  without  penetrating  at  all 
into  the  interior  of  the  country. 

Caesar  then,  who,  though  undaunted  and  bold 
in  emergencies  requiring  prompt  and  decisive 
action,  was  extremely  cautious  and  wary  at  all 
other  times,  fitted  up  a  single  ship,  and,  putting 
one  of  his  officers  on  board  with  a  proper  crew, 
directed  him  to  cross  the  Channel  to  the  En- 
glish coast,  and  then  to  cruise  along  the  land 
for  some  miles  in  each  direction,  to  observe 
where  were  the  best  harbors  and  places  for 
landing,  and  to  examine  generally  the  appear- 
ance of  the  shore.  This  vessel  was  a  galley, 
manned  with  numerous  oarsmen,  well  selected 
and  strong,  so  that  it  could  retreat  with  great 
speed  from  any  sudden  appearance  of  danger. 
The  name  of  the  officer  who  had  the  command 
of  it  was  Volusenus.  Volusenus  set  sail,  the 
army  watching  his  vessel  with  great  interest  as 
it  moved  slowly  away  from  the  shore.     He  was 


100  Julius  Cesar.     [B.C.  58-50. 

Caesar  collects  vessels.  Embarkation  of  the  troops. 

gone  five  days,  and  then  returned,  bringing  Cse- 
sar  an  account  of  his  discoveries. 

In  the  mean  time,  Caesar  had  collected  a 
large  number  of  sailing  vessels  from  the  whole 
line  of  the  French  shore,  by  means  of  which  he 
proposed  to  transport  his  army  across  the  Chan- 
nel. He  had  two  legions  to  take  into  Britain, 
the  remainder  of  his  forces  having  been  station- 
ed as  garrisons  in  various  parts  of  Gaul.  It 
was  necessary,  too,  to  leave  a  considerable  force 
at  his  post  of  debarkation,  in  order  to  secure  a 
safe  retreat  in  case  of  any  disaster  on  the  Brit- 
ish side.  The  number  of  transport  ships  pro- 
vided for  the  foot  soldiers  which  were  to  be 
taken  over  was  eighty.  There  were,  besides 
these,  eighteen  more,  which  were  appointed  to 
convey  a  squadron  of  horse.  This  cavalry  force 
were  to  embark  at  a  separate  port,  about  eighty 
miles  distant  from  the  one  from  which  the  in- 
fantry were  to  sail. 

At  length  a  suitable  day  for  the  embarka- 
tion arrived ;  the  troops  were  put  on  board  the 
ships,  and  orders  were  given  to  sail.  The  day 
could  not  be  fixed  beforehand,  as  the  time  for 
attempting  to  make  the  passage  must  necessa- 
rily depend  upon  the  state  of  the  wind  and 
weather.     Accordingly,  when  the  favorable  op- 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of   Gaul.  101 

Sailing  of  the  fleet.  Preparations  of  the  Britons. 

portunity  arrived,  and  the  main  body  of  the 
army  began  to  embark,  it  took  some  time  to 
send  the  orders  to  the  port  where  the  cavalry 
had  rendezvoused  ;  and  there  were,  besides, 
other  causes  of  delay  which  occurred  to  detain 
this  corps,  so  that  it  turned  out,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  that  the  foot  soldiers  had  to  act 
alone  in  the  first  attempt  at  landing  on  the 
British  shore. 

It  was  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  the 
fleet  set  sail.  The  Britons  had,  in  the  mean 
time,  obtained  intelligence  of  Caesar's  threat- 
ened invasion,  and  they  had  assembled  in  great 
force,  with  troops,  and  horsemen,  and  carriages 
of  war,  and  were  all  ready  to  guard  the  shore. 
The  coast,  at  the  point  where  Caesar  was  ap- 
proaching, consists  of  a  line  of  chalky  cliffs, 
with  valley-like  openings  here  and  there  be- 
tween them,  communicating  with  the  shore, 
and  sometimes  narrow  beaches  below.  When 
the  Roman  fleet  approached  the  shore,  Caesar 
found  the  cliffs  every  where  lined  with  troops 
of  Britons,  and  every  accessible  point  below 
carefully  guarded.  It  was  now  about  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  Caesar,  finding  the 
prospect  so  unfavorable  in  respect  to  the  prac- 
ticability of  effecting  a  landing  here,  brought 


102  Julius  Cjss a r.     [B.C. 58-50. 

Caesar  calls  a  council  of  officers.  The  landing. 

his  fleet  to  anchor  near  the  shore,  but  far 
enough  from  it  to  be  safe  from  the  missiles  of 
the  enemy. 

Here  he  remained  for  several  hours,  to  give 
time  for  all  the  vessels  to  join  him.  Some  of 
them  had  been  delayed  in  the  embarkation,  or 
had  made  slower  progress  than  the  rest  in  cross- 
ing the  Channel.  He  called  a  council,  too,  of 
the  superior  officers  of  the  army  on  board  his 
own  galley,  and  explained  to  them  the  plan 
which  he  now  adopted  for  the  landing.  About 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  sent  these  of- 
ficers back  to  their  respective  ships,  and  gave 
orders  to  make  sail  along  the  shore.  The  an- 
chors were  raised  and  the  fleet  moved  on,  borne 
by  the  united  impulse  of  the  wind  and  the  tide. 
The  Britons,  perceiving  this  movement,  put 
themselves  in  motion  on  the  land,  following  the 
motions  of  the  fleet  so  as  to  be  ready  to  meet 
their  enemy  wherever  they  might  ultimately 
undertake  to  land.  Their  horsemen  and  car- 
riages went  on  in  advance,  and  the  foot  soldiers 
followed,  all  pressing  eagerly  forward  to  keep 
up  with  the  motion  of  the  fleet,  and  to  prevent 
Caesar's  army  from  having  time  to  land  before 
they  should  arrive  at  the  spot  and  be  ready  to 
oppose  them. 


■■■■i"  '    iiiii||]iiiii 


B.C.  58-50.]  Conquest  of  Gaul.  105 

The  battle.  Defeat  of  the  Britons. 


The  fleet  moved  on  until,  at  length,  after 
sailing  about  eight  miles,  they  came  to  a  part 
of  the  coast  where  there  was  a  tract  of  compar- 
atively level  ground,  which  seemed  to  be  easily 
accessible  from  the  shore.  Here  Caesar  de- 
termined to  attempt  to  land ;  and  drawing  up 
his  vessel,  accordingly,  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
beach,  he  ordered  the  men  to  leap  over  into  the 
water,  with  their  weapons  in  their  hands.  The 
Britons  were  all  here  to  oppose  them,  and  a 
dreadful  struggle  ensued,  the  combatants  dyeing 
the  waters  with  their  blood  as  they  fought,  half 
submerged  in  the  surf  which  rolled  in  upon  the 
sand.  Some  galleys  rowed  up  at  the  same  time 
near  to  the  shore,  and  the  men  on  board  of  them 
attacked  the  Britons  from  the  decks,  by  the 
darts  and  arrows  which  they  shot  to  the  land. 
Csesar  at  last  prevailed :  the  Britons  were  driven 
away,  and  the  Roman  army  established  them- 
selves in  quiet  possession  of  the  shore. 

Csesar  had  afterward  a  great  variety  of  ad- 
ventures, and  many  narrow  escapes  from  immi- 
nent dangers  in  Britain,  and,  though  he  gained 
considerable  glory  by  thus  penetrating  into  such 
remote  and  unknown  regions,  there  was  very 
little  else  to  be  acquired.  The  glory,  however, 
was  itself  of  great  value  to  Caesar.     During  the 


106  Julius  Cesar.     [B.C.  58-50. 

Caesar's  popularity  at  Rome.  Results  of  his  campaigns. 

whole  period  of  his  campaigns  in  Gaul,  Rome, 
and  all  Italy  in  fact,  had  been  filled  with  the 
fame  of  his  exploits,  and  the  expedition  into 
Britain  added  not  a  little  to  his  renown.  The 
populace  of  the  city  were  greatly  gratified  to 
hear  of  the  continued  success  of  their  former  fa- 
vorite. They  decreed  to  him  triumph  after 
triumph,  and  were  prepared  to  welcome  him, 
whenever  he  should  return,  with  greater  hon- 
ors and  more  extended  and  higher  powers  than 
he  had  ever  enjoyed  before. 

Caesar's  exploits  in  these  campaigns  were,  in 
fact,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  of  the  most 
magnificent  character.  Plutarch,  in  summing 
up  the  results  of  them,  says  that  he  took  eight 
hundred  cities,  conquered  three  hundred  na- 
tions, fought  pitched  battles  at  separate  times 
with  three  millions  of  men,  took  one  million  of 
prisoners,  and  killed  another  million  on  the  field. 
What  a  vast  work  of  destruction  was  this  for  a 
man  to  spend  eight  years  of  his  life  in  perform- 
ing upon  his  fellow-creatures,  merely  to  gratify 
his  insane  love  of  dominion. 


B.C.  106.]  Pompey.  107 


Chapter  V. 
Pompey. 
TT/'HILE  Caesar  had  thus  been  rising  to  so 
high  an  elevation,  there  was  another 
Roman  general  who  had  been,  for  nearly  the 
same  period,  engaged,  in  various  other  quar- 
ters of  the  world,  in  acquiring,  by  very  similar 
means,  an  almost  equal  renown.  This  general 
was  Pompey.  He  became,  in  the  end,  Cesar's 
great  and  formidable  rival.  In  order  that  the 
reader  may  understand  clearly  the  nature  of  the 
great  contest  which  sprung  up  at  last  between 
these  heroes,  we  must  now  go  back  and  relate 
some  of  the  particulars  of  Pompey's  individual 
history  down  to  the  time  of  the  completion  of 
Caesar's  conquests  in  Gaul. 

Pompey  was  a  few  years  older  than  Casar, 
having  been  born  in  106  B.C.  His  father  was 
a  Roman  general,  and  the  young  Pompey  was 
brought  up  in  camp.  He  was  a  young  man  of 
very  handsome  figure  and  countenance,  and 
of  very  agreeable  manners.  His  hair  curled 
slightly  over  his  forehead,  and  he  had  a  dark 


108  Julius   Cesar.         [B.C.  106. 

Pompey's  personal  appearance.  Plan  to  assassinate  him. 

and  intelligent  eye,  full  of  vivacity  and  mean- 
ing. There  was,  besides,  in  the  expression  of 
his  face,  and  in  his  air  and  address,  a  certain 
indescribable  charm,  which  prepossessed  every 
one  strongly  in  his  favor,  and  gave  him,  from 
his  earliest  years,  a  great  personal  ascendency 
over  all  who  knew  him. 

Notwithstanding  this  popularity,  however, 
Pompey  did  not  escape,  even  in  very  early  life, 
incurring  his  share  of  the  dangers  which  seemed 
to  environ  the  path  of  every  public  man  in  those 
distracted  times.  It  will  be  recollected  that,  in 
the  contests  between  Marius  and  Sylla,  Caesar 
had  joined  the  Marian  faction.  Pompey's  fa- 
ther, on  the  other  hand,  had  connected  himself 
with  that  of  Sylla.  At  one  time,  in  the  midst 
of  these  wars,  when  Pompey  was  very  young, 
a  conspiracy  was  formed  to  assassinate  his  fa- 
ther by  burning  him  in  his  tent,  and  Pompey's 
comrade,  named  Terentius,  who  slept  in  the 
same  tent  with  him,  had  been  bribed  to  kill 
Pompey  himself  at  the  same  time,  by  stabbing 
him  in  his  bed.  Pompey  contrived  to  discover 
this  plan,  but,  instead  of  being  at  all  discom- 
posed by  it,  he  made  arrangements  for  a  guard 
about  his  father's  tent,  and  then  went  to  supper 
as  usual  with  Terentius,  conversing  with  him 


B.C.  90-80.]  Pompey.  109 

Pompey's  adventures  and  escapes.  Death  of  his  father. 

all  the  time  in  even  a  more  free  and  friendly 
manner  than  usual.  That  night  he  arranged 
his  bed  so  as  to  make  it  appear  as  if  he  was  in 
it,  and  then  stole  away.  When  the  appointed 
hour  arrived,  Terentius  came  into  the  tent,  and, 
approaching  the  couch  where  he  supposed  Pom- 
pey was  lying  asleep,  stabbed  it  again  and  again, 
piercing  the  coverlets  in  many  places,  but  doing 
no  harm,  of  course,  to  his  intended  victim. 

In  the  course  of  the  wars  between  Marius 
and  Sylla,  Pompey  passed  through  a  great  va- 
riety of  scenes,  and  met  with  many  extraordi- 
nary adventures  and  narrow  escapes,  which, 
however,  can  not  be  here  particularly  detailed. 
His  father,  who  was  as  much  hated  by  his  sol- 
diers as  the  son  was  beloved,  was  at  last,  one 
day,  struck  by  lightning  in  his  tent.  The  sol- 
diers were  inspired  with  such  a  hatred  for  his 
memory,  in  consequence,  probably,  of  the  cru- 
elties and  oppressions  which  they  had  suffered 
from  him,  that  they  would  not  allow  his  body 
to  be  honored  with  the  ordinary  funeral  obse- 
quies. They  pulled  it  off  from  the  bier  on 
which  it  was  to  have  been  borne  to  the  funeral 
pile,  and  dragged  it  ignominiously  away.  Pom- 
pey's father  was  accused,  too,  after  his  death, 
of  having  converted  some  public  moneys  which 


110  Julius  Cms  a  r.     [B.C.  90-80. 

Pompey  appears  in  his  father's  defense.  His  success  as  a  general. 

had  been  committed  to  his  charge  to  his  own 
use,  and  Pompey  appeared  in  the  Roman  Fo- 
rum as  an  advocate  to  defend  him  from  the 
charge  and  to  vindicate  his  memory.  He  was 
very  successful  in  this  defense.  All  who  heard 
it  were,  in  the  first  instance,  very  deeply  inter- 
ested in  favor  of  the  speaker,  on  account  of  his 
extreme  youth  and  his  personal  beauty ;  and, 
as  he  proceeded  with  his  plea,  he  argued  with 
so  much  eloquence  and  power  as  to  win  univer- 
sal applause.  One  of  the  chief  officers  of  the 
government  in  the  city  was  so  much  pleased 
with  his  appearance,  and  with  the  promise  of 
future  greatness  which  the  circumstances  indi- 
cated, that  he  offered  him  his  daughter  in  mar- 
riage. Pompey  accepted  the  offer,  and  married 
the  lady.     Her  name  was  Antistia. 

Pompey  rose  rapidly  to  higher  and  higher  de- 
grees of  distinction,  until  he  obtained  the  com- 
mand of  an  army,  which  he  had,  in  fact,  in  a 
great  measure  raised  and  organized  himself,  and 
he  fought  at  the  head  of  it  with  great  energy 
and  success  against  the  enemies  of  Sylla.  At 
length  he  was  hemmed  in  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  Italy  by  three  separate  armies,  which  were 
gradually  advancing  against  him,  with  a  cer- 
tainty, as  they  thought,  of  effecting  his  destruc- 


B.C.  90-80.]  Pompey.  Ill 

Potnpey  defeats  the  armies.  His  rising  fame. 

tion.  Sylla,  hearing  of  Pompey's  danger,  made 
great  efforts  to  march  to  his  rescue.  Before  he 
reached  the  place,  however,  Pompey  had  met 
and  defeated  one  after  another  of  the  armies  of 
his  enemies,  so  that,  when  Sylla  approached, 
Pompey  marched  out  to  meet  him  with  his  army 
drawn  up  in  magnificent  array,  trumpets  sound- 
ing and  banners  flying,  and  with  large  bodies  of 
disarmed  troops,  the  prisoners  that  he  had  taken, 
in  the  rear.  Sylla  was  struck  with  surprise  and 
admiration ;  and  when  Pompey  saluted  him 
with  the  title  of  Imperator,  which  was  the  high- 
est title  known  to  the  Roman  constitution,  and 
the  one  which  Sylla's  lofty  rank  and  unbounded 
power  might  properly  claim,  Sylla  returned  the 
compliment  by  conferring  this  great  mark  of 
distinction  on  him. 

Pompey  proceeded  to  Rome,  and  the  fame  of 
his  exploits,  the  singular  fascination  of  his  person 
and  manners,  and  the  great  favor  with  Sylla 
that  he  enjoyed,  raised  him  to  a  high  degree  of 
distinction.  He  was  not,  however,  elated  with 
the  pride  and  vanity  which  so  young  a  man 
would  be  naturally  expected  to  exhibit  under 
such  circumstances.  He  was,  on  the  contrary, 
modest  and  unassuming,  and  he  acted  in  all  re- 
spects in  such  a  manner  as  to  gain  the  appro- 


112                   Julius  C^sar. 

[B.C.  83. 

Pompey's  modesty. 

An  example. 

bation  and  the  kind  regard  of  all  who  knew  him, 
as  well  as  to  excite  their  applause.  There  was 
an  old  general  at  this  time  in  Gaul — for  all  these 
events  took  place  long  before  the  time  of  Caesar's 
campaigns  in  that  country,  and,  in  fact,  before 
the  commencement  of  his  successful  career  in 
Rome — whose  name  was  Metellus,  and  who, 
either  on  account  of  his  advancing  age,  or  for 
some  other  reason,  was  very  inefficient  and  un- 
successful in  his  government.  Sylla  proposed 
to  supersede  him  by  sending  Pompey  to  take 
his  place.  Pompey  replied  that  it  was  not  right 
to  take  the  command  from  a  man  who  was  so 
much  his  superior  in  age  and  character,  but 
that,  if  Metellus  wished  for  his  assistance  in  the 
management  of  his  command,  he  would  proceed 
to  Gaul  and  render  him  every  service  in  his 
power.  When  this  answer  was  reported  to  Me- 
tellus, he  wrote  to  Pompey  to  come.  Pompey 
accordingly  went  to  Gaul,  where  he  obtained 
new  victories,  and  gained  new  and  higher  honors 
than  before. 

These,  and  various  anecdotes  which  the  an- 
cient historians  relate,  would  lead  us  to  form 
very  favorable  ideas  of  Pompey's  character. 
Some  other  circumstances,  however,  which  oc- 
curred, seem   to   furnish  different  indications. 


B.C.  83.]  Pompey.  113 

Pompey  divorces  his  wife.  He  marries  Sylla's  daughter-in-law. 

For  example,  on  his  return  to  Rome,  some  time 
after  the  events  above  related,  Sylla,  whose  es- 
timation of  Pompey's  character  and  of  the  im- 
portance of  his  services  seemed  continually  to 
increase,  wished  to  connect  him  with  his  own 
family  by  marriage.  He  accordingly  proposed 
that  Pompey  should  divorce  his  wife  Antistia, 
and  marry  iEmilia,  the  daughter-in-law  of  Syl- 
la. ^Emilia  was  already  the  wife  of  another 
man,  from  whom  she  would  have  to  be  taken 
away  to  make  her  the  wife  of  Pompey.  This, 
however,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  thought 
a  very  serious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  ar- 
rangement. Pompey's  wife  was  put  away,  and 
the  wife  of  another  man  taken  in  her  place. 
Such  a  deed  was  a  gross  violation  not  merely 
of  revealed  and  written  law,  but  of  those  uni- 
versal instincts  of  right  and  wrong  which  are 
implanted  indelibly  in  all  human  hearts.  It 
ended,  as  might  have  been  expected,  most  dis- 
astrously. Antistia  was  plunged,  of  course, 
into  the  deepest  distress.  Her  father  had  re- 
cently lost  his  life  on  account  of  his  supposed 
attachment  to  Pompey.  Her  mother  killed 
herself  in  the  anguish  and  despair  produced  by 
the  misfortunes  of  her  family ;  and  JEmilia, 
the  new  wife,  died  suddenly,  on  the  occasion 
H 


114  Julius  CiESAR.     [B.C.  80-70. 

Pompey's  success  in  Africa.  Attachment  of  his  soldiers. 

of  the  birth  of  a  child,  a  very  short  time  after 
her  marriage  with  Pompey. 

These  domestic  troubles  did  not,  however, 
interpose  any  serious  obstacle  to  Pompey's  prog- 
ress in  his  career  of  greatness  and  glory.  Syl- 
la  sent  him  on  one  great  enterprise  after  anoth- 
er, in  all  of  which  Pompey  acquitted  himself 
in  an  admirable  manner.  Among  his  other 
campaigns,  he  served  for  some  time  in  Africa 
with  great  success.  He  returned  in  due  time 
from  this  expedition,  loaded  with  military  hon- 
ors. His  soldiers  had  become  so  much  attach- 
ed to  him  that  there  was  almost  a  mutiny  in 
the  army  when  he  was  ordered  home.  They 
were  determined  to  submit  to  no  authority  but 
that  of  Pompey.  Pompey  at  length  succeeded, 
by  great  efforts,  in  subduing  this  spirit,  and 
bringing  back  the  army  to  their  duty.  A  false 
account  of  the  affair,  however,  went  to  Rome. 
It  was  reported  to  Sylla  that  there  was  a  revolt 
in  the  army  of  Africa,  headed  by  Pompey  him- 
self, who  was  determined  not  to  resign  his  com- 
mand. Sylla  was  at  first  very  indignant  that 
his  authority  should  be  despised  and  his  power 
braved,  as  he  expressed  it,  by  "such  a  boy;" 
for  Pompey  was  still,  at  this  time,  very  young. 
When,  however,  he  learned  the  truth,  he  con- 


B.C.  80-70.]  Pompey.  115 

Pompey's  title  of  "Great."  He  demands  a  triumph. 

ceived  a  higher  admiration  for  the  young  gen- 
eral than  ever.  He  went  out  to  meet  him  as 
he  approached  the  city,  and,  in  accosting  him, 
he  called  him  Pompey  the  Great.  Pompey  has 
continued  to  bear  the  title  thus  given  him  to 
the  present  day. 

Pompey  began,  it  seems,  now  to  experience, 
in  some  degree,  the  usual  effects  produced  upon 
the  human  heart  by  celebrity  and  praise.  He 
demanded  a  triumph.  A  triumph  was  a  great 
and  splendid  ceremony,  by  which  victorious  gen- 
erals, who  were  of  advanced  age  and  high  civil 
or  military  rank,  were  received  into  the  city 
when  returning  from  any  specially  glorious  cam- 
paign. There  was  a  grand  procession  formed 
on  these  occasions,  in  which  various  emblems 
and  insignia,  and  trophies  of  victory,  and  cap- 
tives taken  by  the  conqueror,  were  displayed. 
This  great  procession  entered  the  city  with 
bands  of  music  accompanying  it,  and  flags  and 
banners  flying,  passing  under  triumphal  arches 
erected  along  the  way.  Triumphs  were  usual- 
ly decreed  by  a  vote  of  the  Senate,  in  cases 
where  they  were  deserved ;  but,  in  this  case, 
Sylla's  power  as  dictator  was  supreme,  and 
Pompey's  demand  for  a  triumph  seems  to  have 
been  addressed  accordingly  to  him. 


116  Julius  C^sar.     [B.C.  80-70. 

Sylla  refuses  Pompey  a  triumph.  But  at  last  consents. 

Sylla  refused  it.  Pompey's  performances  in 
the  African  campaign  had  been,  he  admitted, 
very  creditable  to  him,  but  he  had  neither  the 
age  nor  the  rank  to  justify  the  granting  him  a 
triumph.  To  bestow  such  an  honor  upon  one 
so  young  and  in  such  a  station,  would  only 
bring  the  honor  itself,  he  said,  into  disrepute, 
and  degrade,  also,  his  dictatorship  for  suffer- 
ing it. 

To  this  Pompey  replied,  speaking,  however, 
in  an  under  tone  to  those  around  him  in  the  as- 
sembly, that  Sylla  need  not  fear  that  the  tri- 
umph would  be  unpopular,  for  people  were  much 
more  disposed  to  worship  a  rising  than  a  setting 
sun.  Sylla  did  not  hear  this  remark,  but,  per- 
ceiving by  the  countenances  of  the  by-standers 
that  Pompey  had  said  something  which  seemed 
to  please  them,  he  asked  what  it  was.  When 
the  remark  was  repeated  to  him,  he  seemed 
pleased  himself  with  its  justness  or  with  its 
wit,  and  said,  "  Let  him  have  his  triumph." 

The  arrangements  were  accordingly  made, 
Pompey  ordering  every  thing  necessary  to  be 
prepared  for  a  most  magnificent  procession.  He 
learned  that  some  persons  in  the  city,  envious 
at  his  early  renown,  were  displeased  with  his 
triumph  ;  this  only  awakened  in  him  a  determ- 


B.C.  80-70.]  Pompey.  117 

Pompey's  triumph.  His  course  of  conduct  at  Rome. 

ination  to  make  it  still  more  splendid  and  im- 
posing. He  had  brought  some  elephants  with 
him  from  Africa,  and  he  formed  a  plan  for  hav- 
ing the  car  in  which  he  was  to  ride  in  the  pro- 
cession drawn  by  four  of  these  huge  beasts  as 
it  entered  the  city ;  but,  on  measuring  the  gate, 
it  was  found  not  wide  enough  to  admit  such  a 
team,  and  the  plan  was  accordingly  abandoned. 
The  conqueror's  car  was  drawn  by  horses  in 
the  usual  manner,  and  the  elephants  followed 
singly,  with  the  other  trophies,  to  grace  the 
train. 

Pompey  remained  some  time  after  this  in 
Rome,  sustaining  from  time  to  time  various  of- 
fices of  dignity  and  honor.  His  services  were 
often  called  for  to  plead  causes  in  the  Forum, 
and  he  performed  this  duty,  whenever  he  un- 
dertook it,  with  great  success.  He,  however, 
seemed  generally  inclined  to  retire  somewhat 
from  intimate  intercourse  with  the  mass  of  the 
community,  knowing  very  well  that  if  he  was 
engaged  often  in  the  discussion  of  common 
questions  with  ordinary  men,  he  should  soon 
descend  in  public  estimation  from  the  high  po- 
sition to  which  his  military  renown  had  raised 
him.  He  accordingly  accustomed  himself  to 
appear  but  little  in  public,  and,  when  he  did  so 


118  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C. 67. 

The  Cilician  pirates.  Their  increasing  depredations. 

appear,  he  was  generally  accompanied  by  a 
large  retinue  of  armed  attendants,  at  the  head 
of  which  he  moved  about  the  city  in  great  state, 
more  like  a  victorious  general  in  a  conquered 
province  than  like  a  peaceful  citizen  exercising 
ordinary  official  functions  in  a  community  gov- 
erned by  law.  This  was  a  very  sagacious 
course,  so  far  as  concerned  the  attainment  of 
the  great  objects  of  future  ambition.  Pompey 
knew  very  well  that  occasions  would  probably 
arise  in  which  he  could  act  far  more  effectually 
for  the  promotion  of  his  own  greatness  and 
fame  than  by  mingling  in  the  ordinary  munic- 
ipal contests  of  the  city. 

At  length,  in  fact,  an  occasion  came.  In 
the  year  B.C.  67,  which  was  about  the  time 
that  Caesar  commenced  his  successful  career  in 
rising  to  public  office  in  Rome,  as  is  described 
in  the  third  chapter  of  this  volume,  the  Cilician 
pirates,  of  whose  desperate  character  and  bold 
exploits  something  has  already  been  said,  had 
become  so  powerful,  and  were  increasing  so  rap- 
idly in  the  extent  of  their  depredations,  that 
the  Roman  people  felt  compelled  to  adopt  some 
very  vigorous  measures  for  suppressing  them. 
The  pirates  had  increased  in  numbers  during 
the  wars  between  Marius  and  Sylla  in  a  very 


B.C.  67.]  Pompey.  119 

Ships  and  fortresses  of  the  Cilicians.  Their  conquests. 


alarming  degree.  They  had  built,  equipped, 
and  organized  whole  fleets.  They  had  various 
fortresses,  arsenals,  ports,  and  watch-towers  all 
along  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean.  They 
had  also  extensive  warehouses,  built  in  secure 
and  secluded  places,  where  they  stored  their 
plunder.  Their  fleets  were  well  manned,  and 
provided  with  skillful  pilots,  and  with  ample 
supplies  of  every  kind  ;  and  they  were  so  well 
constructed,  both  for  speed  and  safety,  that  no 
other  ships  could  be  made  to  surpass  them. 
Many  of  them,  too,  were  adorned  and  decora- 
ted in  the  most  sumptuous  manner,  with  gild- 
ed sterns,  purple  awnings,  and  silver-mounted 
oars.  The  number  of  their  galleys  was  said  to 
be  a  thousand.  With  this  force  they  made 
themselves  almost  complete  masters  of  the  sea. 
They  attacked  not  only  separate  ships,  but 
whole  fleets  of  merchantmen  sailing  under  con- 
voy ;  and  they  increased  the  difficulty  and  ex- 
pense of  bringing  grain  to  Rome  so  much,  by 
intercepting  the  supplies,  as  very  materially  to 
enhance  the  price  and  to  threaten  a  scarcity. 
They  made  themselves  masters  of  many  isl- 
ands and  of  various  maritime  towns  along  the 
coast,  until  they  had  four  hundred  ports  and 
cities  in  their  possession.     In  fact,  they  had 


120  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.  67. 

Plan  for  destroying  the  pirates.  Its  magnitude. 

gone  so  far  toward  forming  themselves  into  a 
regular  maritime  power,  under  a  systematic 
and  legitimate  government,  that  very  respecta- 
ble young  men  from  other  countries  began  to 
enter  their  service,  as  one  opening  honorable  av- 
enues to  wealth  and  fame. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  obvious 
that  something  decisive  must  be  done.  A  friend 
of  Pompey's  brought  forward  a  plan  for  com- 
missioning some  one,  he  did  not  say  whom, 
but  every  one  understood  that  Pompey  was  in- 
tended, to  be  sent  forth  against  the  pirates, 
with  extraordinary  powers,  such  as  should  be 
amply  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  bring  their 
dominion  to  an  end.  He  was  to  have  supreme 
command  upon  the  sea,  and  also  upon  the  land 
for  fifty  miles  from  the  shore.  He  was,  more- 
over, to  be  empowered  to  raise  as  large  a  force, 
both  of  ships  and  men,  as  he  should  think  re- 
quired, and  to  draw  from  the  treasury  whatev- 
er funds  were  necessary  to  defray  the  enormous 
expenses  which  so  vast  an  undertaking  would 
involve.  If  the  law  should  pass  creating  this 
office,  and  a  person  be  designated  to  fill  it,  it  is 
plain  that  such  a  commander  would  be  clothed 
with  enormous  powers;  but  then  he  would  in- 
cur, on  the  other  hand,  a  vast  and  commensu- 


B.C.  67.]  Pompey.  121 


Pompey  appointed  to  the  command.  Fall  in  the  price  of  grain. 

rate  responsibility,  as  the  Roman  people  would 
hold  him  rigidly  accountable  for  the  full  and 
perfect  accomplishment  of  the  work  he  under- 
took, after  they  had  thus  surrendered  every  pos- 
sible power  necessary  to  accomplish  it  so  un- 
conditionally into  his  hands. 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  maneuvering,  man- 
agement, and  debate  on  the  one  hand  to  effect 
the  passage  of  this  law,  and,  on  the  other,  to  de- 
feat it.  Caesar,  who,  though  not  so  prominent 
yet  as  Pompey,  was  now  rising  rapidly  to  in- 
fluence and  power,  was  in  favor  of  the  meas- 
ure, because,  as  is  said,  he  perceived  that  the 
people  were  pleased  with  it.  It  was  at  length 
adopted.  Pompey  was  then  designated  to  fill 
the  office  which  the  law  created.  He  accepted 
the  trust,  and  began  to  prepare  for  the  vast  un- 
dertaking. The  price  of  grain  fell  immediately 
in  Rome,  as  soon  as  the  appointment  of  Pom- 
pey was  made  known,  as  the  merchants,  who 
had  large  supplies  in  the  granaries  there,  were 
now  eager  to  sell,  even  at  a  reduction,  feeling 
confident  that  Pompey's  measures  would  result 
in  bringing  in  abundant  supplies.  The  people, 
surprised  at  this  sudden  relaxation  of  the  press- 
ure of  their  burdens,  said  that  the  very  name 
of  Pompey  had  put  an  end  to  the  war. 


122  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.67. 

Pompey's  complete  success.  His  mode  of  operation. 

They  were  not  mistaken  in  their  anticipa- 
tions of  Pompey's  success.  He  freed  the  Med- 
iterranean from  pirates  in  three  months,  by 
one  systematic  and  simple  operation,  which  af- 
fords one  of  the  most  striking  examples  of  the 
power  of  united  and  organized  effort,  planned 
and  conducted  by  one  single  master  mind,  which 
the  history  of  ancient  or  modern  times  has  re- 
corded. The  manner  in  which  this  work  was 
effected  was  this  : 

Pompey  raised  and  equipped  a  vast  number 
of  galleys,  and  divided  them  into  separate  fleets, 
putting  each  one  under  the  command  of  a  lieu- 
tenant. He  then  divided  the  Mediterranean 
Sea  into  thirteen  districts,  and  appointed  a 
lieutenant  and  his  fleet  for  each  one  of  them 
as  a  guard.  After  sending  these  detachments 
forth  to  their  respective  stations,  he  set  out 
from  the  city  himself  to  take  charge  of  the  op- 
erations which  he  was  to  conduct  in  person. 
The  people  followed  him,  as  he  went  to  the 
place  where  he  was  to  embark,  in  great  crowds, 
and  with  long  and  loud  acclamations. 

Beginning  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  Pom- 
pey cruised  with  a  powerful  fleet  toward  the 
east,  driving  the  pirates  before  him,  the  lieu- 
tenants, who  ware  stationed  along  the  coast, 


B.C.  67.]  Pompey.  123 

Pompey  drives  the  pirates  before  him.  Exultation  at  Rome. 

being  on  the  alert  to  prevent  them  from  finding 
any  places  of  retreat  or  refuge.  Some  of  the 
pirates'  ships  were  surrounded  and  taken.  Oth- 
ers fled,  and  were  followed  by  Pompey's  ships 
until  they  had  passed  beyond  the  coasts  of  Sic- 
ily, and  the  seas  between  the  Italian  and  Afri- 
can shores.  The  communication  was  now  open 
again  to  the  grain-growing  countries  south  of 
Rome,  and  large  supplies  of  food  were  immedi- 
ately poured  into  the  city.  The  whole  popula- 
tion was,  of  course,  filled  with  exultation  and 
joy  at  receiving  such  welcome  proofs  that  Pom- 
pey was  successfully  accomplishing  the  work 
they  had  assigned  him. 

The  Italian  peninsula  and  the  island  of  Sic- 
ily, forming  a  sort  of  projection  from  the  north- 
ern shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  a  salient 
angle  of  the  coast  nearly  opposite  to  them  on 
the  African  side,  form  a  sort  of  strait  which  di- 
vides this  great  sea  into  two  separate  bodies  of 
water,  and  the  pirates  were  now  driven  entire- 
ly out  of  the  western  division.  Pompey  sent 
his  principal  fleet  after  them,  with  orders  to 
pass  around  the  island  of  Sicily  and  the  south- 
ern part  of  Italy  to  Brundusium,  which  was  the 
great  port  on  the  western  side  of  Italy.  He 
himself  was  to  cross  the  peninsula  by  land,  tak- 


124  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C.  62 

The  pirates  concentrate  themselves.  Some  of  them  surrender 

ing  Rome  in  his  way,  and  afterward  to  join  the 
fleet  at  Brundusium.  The  pirates,  in  the  mean 
time,  so  far  as  they  had  escaped  Pompey's 
cruisers,  had  retreated  to  the  seas  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Cilicia,  and  were  concentrating  then 
forces  there  in  preparation  for  the  final  struggle. 

Pompey  was  received  at  Rome  with  the  ut- 
most enthusiasm.  The  people  came  out  in 
throngs  to  meet  him  as  he  approached  the  city, 
and  welcomed  him  with  loud  acclamations.  He 
did  not,  however,  remain  in  the  city  to  enjoy 
these  honors.  He  procured,  as  soon  as  possible, 
what  was  necessary  for  the  further  prosecution 
of  his  work,  and  went  on.  He  found  his  fleet 
at  Brundusium,  and,  immediately  embarking, 
he  put  to  sea. 

Pompey  went  on  to  the  completion  of  his 
work  with  the  same  vigor  and  decision  which 
he  had  displayed  in  the  commencement  of  it. 
Some  of  the  pirates,  finding  themselves  hemmed 
in  within  narrower  and  narrower  limits,  gave  up 
the  contest,  and  came  and  surrendered.  Pom- 
pey, instead  of  punishing  them  severely  for  their 
crimes,  treated  them,  and  their  wives  and  chil- 
dren, who  fell  likewise  into  his  power,  with  great 
humanity.  This  induced  many  others  to  follow 
their  example,  so  that  the  number  that  remained 


B.C.  62.]  Pompey.  125 

A  great  battle.  Disposal  of  the  pirates. 

resisting  to  the  end  was  greatly  reduced.  There 
were,  however,  after  all  these  submissions,  a 
body  of  stern  and  indomitable  desperadoes  left, 
who  were  incapable  of  yielding.  These  retreat- 
ed, with  all  the  forces  which  they  could  retain, 
to  their  strong-holds  on  the  Silician  shores, 
sending  their  wives  and  children  back  to  still 
securer  retreats  among  the  fastnesses  of  the 
mountains. 

Pompey  followed  them,  hemming  them  in 
with  the  squadrons  of  armed  galleys  which  he 
brought  up  around  them,  thus  cutting  off  from 
them  all  possibility  of  escape.  Here,  at  length, 
a  great  final  battle  was  fought,  and  the  domin- 
ion of  the  pirates  was  ended  forever.  Pompey 
destroyed  their  ships,  dismantled  their  fortifica- 
tions, restored  the  harbors  and  towns  which  they 
had  seized  to  their  rightful  owners,  and  sent 
the  pirates  themselves,  with  their  wives  and 
children,  far  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 
and  established  them  as  agriculturists  and 
herdsmen  there,  in  a  territory  which  he  set 
apart  for  the  purpose,  where  they  might  live  in 
peace  on  the  fruits  of  their  own  industry,  with- 
out the  possibility  of  again  disturbing  the  com- 
merce of  the  seas. 

Instead  of  returning  to  Rome  after  these  ex- 


126  Julius  C;esar.  [B.C.  50. 

Pompey's  conquests  in  Asia  Minor.  His  magnificent  triumph. 

ploits,  Pompey  obtained  new  powers  from  the 
government  of  the  city,  and  pushed  his  way  into 
Asia  Minor,  where  he  remained  several  years, 
pursuing  a  similar  career  of  conquest  to  that 
of  Caesar  in  Gaul.  At  length  he  returned  to 
Rome,  his  entrance  into  the  city  being  sig- 
nalized by  a  most  magnificent  triumph.  The 
procession  for  displaying  the  trophies,  the  cap- 
tives, and  the  other  emblems  of  victory,  and  for 
conveying  the  vast  accumulation  of  treasures 
and  spoils,  was  two  days  in  passing  into  the 
city ;  and  enough  was  left  after  all  for  another 
triumph.  Pompey  was,  in  a  word,  on  the  very 
summit  of  human  grandeur  and  renown. 

He  found,  however,  an  old  enemy  and  rival 
at  Rome.  This  was  Crassus,  who  had  been 
Pompey's  opponent  in  earlier  times,  and  who 
now  renewed  his  hostility.  In  the  contest  that 
ensued,  Pompey  relied  on  his  renown,  Crassus 
on  his  wealth.  Pompey  attempted  to  please  the 
people  by  combats  of  lions  and  of  elephants 
which  he  had  brought  home  from  his  foreign 
campaigns  ;  Crassus  courted  their  favor  by  dis- 
tributing corn  among  them,  and  inviting  them 
to  public  feasts  on  great  occasions.  He  spread 
for  them,  at  one  time,  it  was  said,  ten  thousand 
tables.     All  Rome  was  filled  with  the  feuds  of 


B.C.  50.]  Pompey.  127 

The  first  triumvirate.  Pompey's  wife  Julia. 

these  great  political  foes.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  Caesar  returned  from  Spain,  and  had  the 
adroitness,  as  has  already  been  explained,  to  ex- 
tinguish these  feuds,  and  reconcile  these  appa- 
rently implacable  foes.  He  united  them  to- 
gether, and  joined  them  with  himself  in  a  triple 
league,  which  is  celebrated  in  Roman  history 
as  the  first  triumvirate.  The  rivalry,  however, 
of  these  great  aspirants  for  power  was  only  sup- 
pressed and  concealed,  without  being  at  all 
weakened  or  changed.  The  death  of  Crassus 
soon  removed  him  from  the  stage.  Csesar  and 
Pompey  continued  afterward,  for  some  time, 
an  ostensible  alliance.  Csesar  attempted  to 
strengthen  this  bond  by  giving  Pompey  his 
daughter  Julia  for  his  wife.  Julia,  though  so 
young — even  her  father  was  six  years  younger 
than  Pompey — was  devotedly  attached  to  her 
husband,  and  he  was  equally  fond  of  her.  She 
formed,  in  fact,  a  strong  bond  of  union  between 
the  two  great  conquerors  as  long  as  she  lived. 
One  day,  however,  there  was  a  riot  at  an  elec- 
tion, and  men  were  killed  so  near  to  Pompey 
that  his  robe  was  covered  with  blood.  He 
changed  it;  the  servants  carried  home  the 
bloody  garment  which  he  had  taken  off,  and 
Julia  was  so  terrified  at  the  sight,  thinking  that 


128  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C.50. 

Pompey  and  Caesar  open  enemies.  Their  ambition. 

her  husband  had  been  killed,  that  she  fainted, 
and  her  constitution  suffered  very  severely  by 
the  shock.  She  lived  some  time  afterward,  but 
finally  died  under  circumstances  which  indicate 
that  this  occurrence  was  the  cause.  Pompey 
and  Csesar  now  soon  became  open  enemies. 
The  ambitious  aspirations  which  each  of  them 
cherished  were  so  vast,  that  the  world  was  not 
wide  enough  for  them  both  to  be  satisfied. 
They  had  assisted  each  other  up  the  ascent 
which  they  had  been  so  many  years  in  climb- 
ing, but  now  they  had  reached  very  near  to  the 
summit,  and  the  question  was  to  be  decided 
which  of  the  two  should  have  his  station  there. 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the   Rubicon.         129 

The  Rubicon.  Its  insignificance  as  a  stream. 


Chapter   VI. 

Crossing  the   Rubicon. 

f  INHERE  was  a  little  stream  in  ancient  times, 
-*-  in  the  north  of  Italy,  which  flowed  west- 
ward into  the  Adriatic  Sea,  called  the  Rubicon. 
This  stream  has  been  immortalized  by  the  trans- 
actions which  we  are  now  about  to  describe. 

The  Rubicon  was  a  very  important  bounda- 
ry, and  yet  it  was  in  itself  so  small  and  insig- 
nificant that  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine 
which  of  two  or  three  little  brooks  here  running 
into  the  sea  is  entitled  to  its  name  and  re- 
nown. In  history  the  Rubicon  is  a  grand,  per- 
manent, and  conspicuous  stream,  gazed  upon 
with  continued  interest  by  all  mankind  for  near- 
ly twenty  centuries ;  in  nature  it  is  an  uncer- 
tain rivulet,  for  a  long  time  doubtful  and  unde- 
termined, and  finally  lost. 

The  Rubicon  originally  derived  its  import- 
ance from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  boundary  be- 
tween all  that  part  of  the  north  of  Italy  which 
is  formed  by  the  valley  of  the  Po,  one  of  the 
richest  and  most  magnificent  countries  of  the 
I 


130  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C. 50. 

Importance  of  the  Rubicon  as  a  boundary. 

world,  and  the  more  southern  Roman  territo- 
ries. This  country  of  the  Po  constituted  what 
was  in  those  days  called  the  hither  Gaul,  and 
was  a  Roman  province.  It  belonged  now  to 
Caesar's  jurisdiction,  as  the  commander  in  Gaul. 
All  south  of  the  Rubicon  was  territory  reserved 
for  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  city.  The 
Romans,  in  order  to  protect  themselves  from 
any  danger  which  might  threaten  their  own 
liberties  from  the  immense  armies  which  they 
raised  for  the  conquest  of  foreign  nations,  had 
imposed  on  every  side  very  strict  limitations 
and  restrictions  in  respect  to  the  approach  of 
these  armies  to  the  Capitol.  The  Rubicon  was 
the  limit  on  this  northern  side.  Generals  com- 
manding in  Gaul  were  never  to  pass  it.  To 
cross  the  Rubicon  with  an  army  on  the  way  to 
Rome  was  rebellion  and  treason.  Hence  the 
Rubicon  became,  as  it  were,  the  visible  sign 
and  symbol  of  civil  restriction  to  military  power. 
As  Csesar  found  the  time  of  his  service  in 
Gaul  drawing  toward  a  conclusion,  he  turned 
his  thoughts  more  and  more  toward  Rome,  en- 
deavoring to  strengthen  his  interest  there  by 
every  means  in  his  power,  and  to  circumvent 
and  thwart  the  designs  of  Pompey.  He  had 
agents  and  partisans  in  Rome  who  acted  for 


B.C. 50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.         131 

Caesar's  expenditures  of  money  at  Rome.  His  influence. 

him  and  in  his  name.  He  sent  immense  sums 
of  money  to  these  men,  to  be  employed  in  such 
ways  as  would  most  tend  to  secure  the  favor 
of  the  people.  He  ordered  the  Forum  to  be  re- 
built with  great  magnificence.  He  arranged 
great  celebrations,  in  which  the  people  were  en- 
tertained with  an  endless  succession  of  games, 
spectacles,  and  public  feasts.  When  his  daugh- 
ter Julia,  Pompey's  wife,  died,  he  celebrated 
her  funeral  with  indescribable  splendor.  He 
distributed  corn  in  immense  quantities  among 
the  people,  and  he  sent  a  great  many  captives 
home,  to  be  trained  as  gladiators,  to  fight  in  the 
theaters  for  their  amusement.  In  many  cases, 
too,  where  he  found  men  of  talents  and  influ- 
ence among  the  populace,  who  had  become  in- 
volved in  debt  by  their  dissipations  and  extrav- 
agance, he  paid  their  debts,  and  thus  secured 
their  influence  on  his  side.  Men  were  astound- 
ed at  the  magnitude  of  these  expenditures,  and, 
while  the  multitude  rejoiced  thoughtlessly  in 
the  pleasures  thus  provided  for  them,  the  more 
reflecting  and  considerate  trembled  at  the  great- 
ness of  the  power  which  was  so  rapidly  rising 
to  overshadow  the  land. 

It  increased  their   anxiety  to   observe  that 
Pompey  was  gaining  the  same  kind  of  infku 


132  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 50. 

Pompey's  personal  popularity.  Public  thanksgiving  in  his  behalf. 

ence  and  ascendency  too.  He  had  not  the  ad- 
vantage which  Caesar  enjoyed  in  the  prodig- 
ious wealth  obtained  from  the  rich  countries 
over  which  Caesar  ruled,  but  he  possessed,  in- 
stead of  it,  the  advantage  of  being  all  the  time 
at  Rome,  and  of  securing,  by  his  character  and 
action  there,  a  very  wide  personal  popularity 
and  influence.  Pompey  was,  in  fact,  the  idol 
of  the  people.  At  one  time,  when  he  was  ab- 
sent from  Rome,  at  Naples,  he  was  taken  sick. 
After  being  for  some  days  in  considerable  dan- 
ger, the  crisis  passed  favorably,  and  he  recov- 
ered. Some  of  the  people  of  Naples  proposed 
a  public  thanksgiving  to  the  gods,  to  celebrate 
his  restoration  to  health.  The  plan  was  adopt- 
ed by  acclamation,  and  the  example,  thus  set, 
extended  from  city  to  city,  until  it  had  spread 
throughout  Italy,  and  the  whole  country  was 
filled  with  the  processions,  games,  shows,  and 
celebrations,  which  were  instituted  every  where 
in  honor  of  the  event.  And  when  Pompey  re- 
turned from  Naples  to  Rome,  the  towns  on  the 
way  could  not  afford  room  for  the  crowds  that 
came  forth  to  meet  him.  The  high  roads,  the 
villages,  the  ports,  says  Plutarch,  were  filled 
with  sacrifices  and  entertainments.  Many  re- 
ceived him  with  garlands  on  their"  heads  and 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.  loo 

Pompey's  estimate  of  Caesar's  power.  Plans  of  the  latter. 

torches  in  their  hands,  and,  as  they  conducted 
him  along,  strewed  the  way  with  flowers. 

In  fact,  Pompey  considered  himself  as  stand- 
ing far  above  Caesar  in  fame  and  power,  and 
this  general  burst  of  enthusiasm  and  applause, 
educed  by  his  recovery  from  sickness,  confirmed 
him  in  this  idea.  He  felt  no  solicitude,  he  said, 
in  respect  to  Caesar.  He  should  take  no  special 
precautions  against  any  hostile  designs  which 
he  might  entertain  on  his  return  from  Gaul. 
It  was  he  himself,  he  said,  that  had  raised 
Caesar  up  to  whatever  of  elevation  he  had  at- 
tained, and  he  could  put  him  down  even  more 
easily  than  he  had  exalted  him. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  period  was  drawing 
near  in  which  'Caesar's  command  in  the  prov- 
inces was  to  expire ;  and,  anticipating  the 
struggle  with  Pompey  which  was  about  to  en- 
sue, he  conducted  several  of  his  legions  through 
the  passes  of  the  Alps,  and  advanced  gradually, 
as  he  had  a  right  to  do,  across  the  country  of 
the  Po  toward  the  Rubicon,  revolving  in  his  ca- 
pacious mind,  as  he  came,  the  various  plans  by 
which  he  might  hope  to  gain  the  ascendency 
over  the  power  of  his  mighty  rival,  and  make 
himself  supreme. 

He  concluded  that  it  would  be  his  wisest 


134  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C.  50. 

Caesar  arrives  at  Ravenna.  Pompey's  demands. 

policy  not  to  attempt  to  intimidate  Pompey  by 
great  and  open  preparations  for  war,  which 
might  tend  to  arouse  him  to  vigorous  measures 
of  resistance,  but  rather  to  cover  and  conceal 
his  designs,  and  thus  throw  his  enemy  off  his 
guard.  He  advanced,  therefore,  toward  the  Ru- 
bicon with  a  small  force.  He  established  his 
headquarters  at  Ravenna,  a  city  not  far  from 
the  river,  and  employed  himself  in  objects  of 
local  interest  there,  in  order  to  avert  as  much  as 
possible  the  minds  of  the  people  from  imagining 
that  he  was  contemplating  any  great  design. 
Pompey  sent  to  him  to  demand  the  return  of 
a  certain  legion  which  he  had  lent  him  from 
his  own  army  at  a  time  when  they  were  friends. 
Csesar  complied  with  this  demand  without  any 
hesitation,  and  sent  the  legion  home.  He  sent 
with  this  legion,  also,  some  other  troops  which 
were  properly  his  own,  thus  evincing  a  degree 
of  indifference  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  the 
force  retained  under  his  command  which  seem- 
ed wholly  inconsistent  with  the  idea  that  he 
contemplated  any  resistance  to  the  authority  of 
the  government  at  Rome. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  struggle  at  Rome  be- 
tween the  partisans  of  Caesar  and  Pompey  grew 
more  and  more  violent  and  alarming.     Csesar, 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.         135 

Caesar  demands  to  be  made  consul.  Excitement  in  consequence. 

through  his  friends  in  the  city,  demanded  to  be 
elected  consul.  The  other  side  insisted  that  he 
must  first,  if  that  was  his  wish,  resign  the  com- 
mand of  his  army,  come  to  Rome,  and  present 
himself  as  a  candidate  in  the  character  of  a  pri- 
vate citizen.  This  the  constitution  of  the  state 
very  properly  required.  In  answer  to  this  req- 
uisition, Caesar  rejoined,  that,  if  Pompey  would 
lay  down  his  military  commands,  he  would  do 
so  too ;  if  not,  it  was  unjust  to  require  it  of  him. 
The  services,  he  added,  which  he  had  performed 
for  his  country,  demanded  some  recompense, 
which,  moreover,  they  ought  to  be  willing  to 
award,  even  if,  in  order  to  do  it,  it  were  neces- 
sary to  relax  somewhat  in  his  favor  the  strict- 
ness of  ordinary  rules.  To  a  large  part  of  the 
people  of  the  city  these  demands  of  Caesar  ap- 
peared reasonable.  They  were  clamorous  to 
have  them  allowed.  The  partisans  of  Pompey, 
with  the  stern  and  inflexible  Cato  at  their  head, 
deemed  them  wholly  inadmissible,  and  contend- 
ed with  the  most  determined  violence  against 
them.  The  whole  city  was  filled  with  the  ex- 
citement of  this  struggle,  into  which  all  the  ac- 
tive and  turbulent  spirits  of  the  capital  plunged 
with  the  most  furious  zeal,  while  the  more  con- 
siderate and  thoughtful  of  the  population,  re- 


136  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C.  50. 

Debates  in  the  Senate.  Tumult  and  confusion. 

membering  the  days  of  Marius  and  Sylla,  trem- 
bled at  the  impending  clanger.  Pompey  himself 
had  no  fear.  He  urged  the  Senate  to  resist  to 
the  utmost  all  of  Caesar's  claims,  saying,  if  Cae- 
sar should  be  so  presumptuous  as  to  attempt  to 
march  to  Rome,  he  could  raise  troops  enough 
by  stamping  with  his  foot  to  put  him  down. 

It  would  require  a  volume  to  contain  a  full 
account  of  the  disputes  and  tumults,  the  ma- 
neuvers and  debates,  the  votes  and  decrees  which 
marked  the  successive  stages  of  this  quarrel. 
Pompey  himself  was  all  the  time  without  the 
city.  He  was  in  command  of  an  army  there, 
and  no  general,  while  in  command,  was  allow- 
ed to  come  within  the  gates.  At  last  an  ex- 
citing debate  was  broken  up  in  the  Senate  by 
one  of  the  consuls  rising  to  depart,  saying  that 
he  would  hear  the  subject  discussed  no  longer. 
The  time  had  arrived  for  action,  and  he  should 
send  a  commander,  with  an  armed  force,  to  de- 
fend the  country  from  Caesar's  threatened  in- 
vasion. Caesar's  leading  friends,  two  tribunes 
of  the  people,  disguised  themselves  as  slaves, 
and  fled  to  the  north  to  join  their  master.  The 
country  was  filled  with  commotion  and  panic. 
The  Commonwealth  had  obviously  more  fear 
of  Caesar  than  confidence  in   Pompey.     The 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.  137 

Panic  at  Rome.  Caesar  at- Ravenna. 

country  was  full  of  rumors  in  respect  to  Cae- 
sar's power,  and  the  threatening  attitude  which 
he  was  assuming,  while  they  who  had  insisted 
on  resistance  seemed,  after  all,  to  have  provid- 
ed very  inadequate  means  with  which  to  resist. 
A  thousand  plans  were  formed,  and  clamorously 
insisted  upon  by  their  respective  advocates,  for 
averting  the  danger.  This  only  added  to  the 
confusion,  and  the  city  became  at  length  per- 
vaded with  a  universal  terror. 

While  this  was  the  state  of  things  at  Rome, 
Caesar  was  quietly  established  at  Ravenna, 
thirty  or  forty  miles  from  the  frontier.  He  was 
erecting  a  building  for  a  fencing  school  there, 
and  his  mind  seemed  to  be  occupied  very  busily 
with  the  plans  and  models  of  the  edifice  which 
the  architects  had  formed.  Of  course,  in  his 
intended  march  to  Rome,  his  reliance  was  not 
to  be  so  much  on  the  force  which  he  should 
take  with  him,  as  on  the  co-operation  and  sup- 
port which  he  expected  to  find  there.  It  was 
his  policy,  therefore,  to  move  as  quietly  and  pri- 
vately as  possible,  and  with  as  little  display  of 
violence,  and  to  avoid  every  thing  which  might 
indicate  his  intended  march  to  any  spies  which 
might  be  around  him,  or  to  any  other  persons 
who  might  be  disposed  to  report  what  they  ob- 


138  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C.  50. 

Caesar's  midnight  march.  He  loses  his  way. 

served  at  Rome.  Accordingly,  on  the  very  eve 
of  his  departure,  he  busied  himself  with  his  fenc- 
ing school,  and  assumed  with  his  officers  and 
soldiers  a  careless  and  unconcerned  air,  which 
prevented  any  one  from  suspecting  his  design. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  he  privately  sant 
forward  some  cohorts  to  the  southward,  with 
orders  for  them  to  encamp  on  the  banks  of  the 
Rubicon.  When  night  came  he  sat  down  to 
supper  as  usual,  and  conversed  with  his  friends 
in  his  ordinary  manner,  and  went  with  them 
afterward  to  a  public  entertainment.  As  soon 
as  it  was  dark  and  the  streets  were  still,  he 
set  off  secretly  from  the  city,  accompanied  by  a 
very  few  attendants.  Instead  of  making  use 
of  his  ordinary  equipage,  the  parading  of  which 
would  have  attracted  attention  to  his  move- 
ments, he  had  some  mules  taken  from  a  neigh- 
boring bake-house,  and  harnessed  into  his  chaise. 
There  were  torch-bearers  provided  to  light  the 
way.  The  cavalcade  drove  on  during  the  night, 
finding,  however,  the  hasty  preparations  which 
had  been  made  inadequate  for  the  occasion. 
The  torches  went  out,  the  guides  lost  their 
way,  and  the  future  conqueror  of  the  world 
wandered  about  bewildered  and  lost,  until,  just 
after  break  of  day,  the  party  met  with  a  peas- 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.  141 

Ctesar  at  the  Rubicon.  His  hesitation  at  the  river. 

ant  who  undertook  to  guide  them.  Under  his 
direction  they  made  their  way  to  the  main 
road  again,  and  advanced  then  without  further 
difficulty  to  the  banks  of  the  river,  where  they 
found  that  portion  of  the  army  which  had  been 
sent  forward  encamped,  and  awaiting  their  ar- 
rival. 

Caesar  stood  for  some  time  upon  the  banks 
of  the  stream,  musing  upon  the  greatness  of 
the  undertaking  in  which  simply  passing  across 
it  would  involve  him.  His  officers  stood  by  his 
side.  "We  can  retreat  noiv"  said  he,  "  but 
once  across  that  river  and  we  must  go  on."  He 
paused  for  some  time,  conscious  of  the  vast  im- 
portance of  the  decision,  though  he  thought 
only,  doubtless,  of  its  consequences  to  himself. 
Taking  the  step  which  was  now  before  him 
would  necessarily  end  either  in  his  realizing  the 
loftiest  aspirations  of  his  ambition,  or  in  his  ut- 
ter and  irreparable  ruin.  There  were  vast  pub- 
lic interests,  too,  at  stake,  of  which,  however, 
he  probably  thought  but  little.  It  proved,  in 
the  end,  that  the  history  of  the  whole  Roman 
world,  for  several  centuries,  was  depending  upon 
the  manner  in  which  the  question  now  in  Cae- 
sar's mind  should  turn. 

There  was  a  little  bridge  across  the  Rubicon 


142  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C.  50. 

Story  of  the  shepherd  trumpeter.  Caesar  crosses  the  Rubicon. 

at  the  point  where  Caesar  was  surveying  it. 
While  he  was  standing  there,  the  story  is,  a 
peasant  or  shepherd  came  from  the  neighboring 
fields  with  a  shepherd's  pipe — a  simple  musical 
instrument,  made  of  a  reed,  and  used  much  by 
the  rustic  musicians  of  those  days.  The  sol- 
diers and  some  of  the  officers  gathered  around 
him  to  hear  him  play.  Among  the  rest  came 
some  of  Caesar's  trumpeters,  with  their  trumpets 
in  their  hands.  The  shepherd  took  one  of  these 
martial  instruments  from  the  hands  of  its  pos- 
sessor, laying  aside  his  own,  and  began  to  sound 
a  charge — which  is  a  signal  for  a  rapid  advance 
— and  to  march  at  the  same  time  over  the  bridge. 
"An  omen!  a  prodigy!"  said  Caesar.  "Let 
us  march  where  we  are  called  by  such  a  divine 
intimation.     The  die  is  castP 

So  saying,  he  pressed  forward  over  the  bridge, 
while  the  officers,  breaking  up  the  encampment, 
put  the  columns  in  motion  to  follow  him. 

It  was  shown  abundantly,  on  many  occasions 
in  the  course  of  Caesar's  life,  that  he  had  no 
faith  in  omens.  There  are  equally  numerous 
instances  to  show  that  he  was  always  ready 
to  avail  himself  of  the  popular  belief  in  them, 
to  awaken  his  soldiers'  ardor  or  to  allay  their 
fears.      Whether,  therefore,  in  respect  to  this 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.         143 

Caesar  assembles  his  troops.  His  address  to  them. 

story  of  the  shepherd  trumpeter,  it  was  an  in- 
cident that  really  and  accidentally  occurred,  or 
whether  Caesar  planned  and  arranged  it  him- 
self, with  reference  to  its  effect,  or  whether, 
which  is,  perhaps,  after  all,  the  most  probable 
supposition,  the  tale  was  only  an  embellishment 
invented  out  of  something  or  nothing  by  the 
story-tellers  of  those  days,  to  give  additional 
dramatic  interest  to  the  narrative  of  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Rubicon,  it  must  be  left  for  each 
reader  to  decide. 

As  soon  as  the  bridge  was  crossed,  Caesar 
called  an  assembly  of  his  troops,  and,  with  signs 
of  great  excitement  and  agitation,  made  an  ad- 
dress to  them  on  the  magnitude  of  the  crisis 
through  which  they  were  passing.  He  showed 
them  how  entirely  he  was  in  their  power ;  he 
urged  them,  by  the  most  eloquent  appeals,  to 
stand  by  him,  faithful  and  true,  promising  them 
the  most  ample  rewards  when  he  should  have 
attained  the  object  at  which  he  aimed.  The 
soldiers  responded  to  this  appeal  with  promises 
of  the  most  unwavering  fidelity. 

The  first  town  on  the  Roman  side  of  the  Ru- 
bicon was  Ariminum.  Caesar  advanced  to  this 
town.  The  authorities  opened  its  gates  to  him 
— very  willing,  as  it  appeared,  to  receive  him 


144  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C. 50. 

Surrender  of  various  towns.      Domitius  appointed  to  supersede  Caesar. 

as  their  commander.  Caesar's  force  was  yet 
quite  small,  as  he  had  been  accompanied  by 
only  a  single  legion  in  crossing  the  river.  He 
had,  however,  sent  orders  for  the  other  legions, 
which  had  been  left  in  Gaul,  to  join  him  with- 
out any  delay,  though  any  re-enforcement  of  his 
troops  seemed  hardly  necessary,  as  he  found  no 
indications  of  opposition  to  his  progress.  He 
gave  his  soldiers  the  strictest  injunctions  to  do 
no  injury  to  any  property,  public  or  private,  as 
they  advanced,  and  not  to  assume,  in  any  re- 
spect, a  hostile  attitude  toward  the  people  of 
the  country.  The  inhabitants,  therefore,  wel- 
comed him  wherever  he  came,  and  all  the  cities 
and  towns  followed  the  example  of  Ariminum, 
surrendering,  in  fact,  faster  than  he  could  take 
possession  of  them. 

In  the  confusion  of  the  debates  and  votes  in 
the  Senate  at  Rome  before  Caesar  crossed  the 
Rubicon,  one  decree  had  been  passed  deposing 
him  from  his  command  of  the  army,  and  ap- 
pointing a  successor.  The  name  of  the  general 
thus  appointed  was  Domitius.  The  only  real 
opposition  which  Caesar  encountered  in  his  prog- 
ress toward  Rome  was  from  him.  Domitius 
had  crossed  the  Apennines  at  the  head  of  an 
army  on  his  way  northward  to  supersede  Caesar 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.  145 

Caesar's  treatment  of  Dornitius.  Dismay  at  Rome. 

in  his  command,  and  had  reached  the  town  of 
Corfinium,  which  was  perhaps  one  third  of  the 
way  between  Rome  and  the  Rubicon.  Caesar 
advanced  upon  him  here  and  shut  him  in. 

After  a  brief  siege  the  city  was  taken,  and 
Dornitius  and  his  army  were  made  prisoners. 
Every  body  gave  them  up  for  lost,  expecting 
that  Caesar  would  wreak  terrible  vengeance 
upon  them.  Instead  of  this,  he  received  the 
troops  at  once  into  his  own  service,  and  let  Do- 
rnitius go  free. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  tidings  of  Caesar's  hav- 
ing passed  the  Rubicon,  and  of  the  triumphant 
success  which  he  was  meeting  with  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  march  toward  Rome,  reach- 
ed the  Capitol,  and  added  greatly  to  the  pre- 
vailing consternation.  The  reports  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  his  force  and  of  the  rapidity  of  his 
progress  were  greatly  exaggerated.  The  party 
of  Pompey  and  the  Senate  had  done  every  thing 
to  spread  among  the  people  the  terror  of  Cae- 
sar's name,  in  order  to  arouse  them  to  efforts 
for  opposing  his  designs  ;  and  now,  when  he  had 
broken  through  the  barriers  which  had  been  in- 
tended to  restrain  him,  and  was  advancing  to- 
ward the  city  in  an  unchecked  and  triumphant 
career,  they  were  overwhelmed  with  dismay. 
K 


146  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 50. 

Pomppy's  distress.  He  leaves  Rome. 

Pornpey  began  to  be  terrified  at  the  danger 
which  was  impending.  The  Senate  held  meet- 
ings without  the  city — councils  of  war,  as  it 
were,  in  which  they  looked  to  Pompey  in  vain 
for  protection  from  the  danger  which  he  had 
brought  upon  them.  He  had  said  that  he  could 
raise  an  army  sufficient  to  cope  with  Caesar  at 
any  time  by  stamping  with  his  foot.  They 
told  him  they  thought  now  that  it  was  high 
time  for  him  to  stamp. 

In  fact,  Pompey  found  the  current  setting 
every  where  strongly  against  him.  Some  rec- 
ommended that  commissioners  should  be  sent 
to  Caesar  to  make  proposals  for  peace.  The 
leading  men,  however,  knowing  that  any  peace 
made  with  him  under  such  circumstances  would 
be  their  own  ruin,  resisted  and  defeated  the 
proposal.  Cato  abruptly  left  the  city  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Sicily,  which  had  been  assigned  him 
as  his  province.  Others  fled  in  other  directions. 
Pompey  himself,  uncertain  what  to  do,  and  not 
daring  to  remain,  called  upon  all  his  partisans 
to  join  him,  and  set  off  at  night,  suddenly,  and 
with  very  little  preparation  and  small  supplies, 
to  retreat  across  the  country  toward  the  shores 
of  the  Adriatic  Sea.  His  destination  was  Brun- 
dusium,  the  usual  port  of  embarkation  for  Mac- 
edon  and  Greece. 


B.C. 50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.  147 

Enthusiasm  of  Caesar's  soldiers.  His  policy  in  releasing  Domitius. 

Caesar  was  all  this  time  gradually  advancing 
toward  Rome.  His  soldiers  were  full  of  en- 
thusiasm in  his  cause.  As  his  connection  with 
the  government  at  home  was  sundered  the  mo- 
ment he  crossed  the  Rubicon,  all  supplies  of 
money  and  of  provisions  were  cut  off  in  that 
quarter  until  he  should  arrive  at  the  Capitol  and 
take  possession  of  it.  The  soldiers  voted,  how- 
ever, that  they  would  serve  him  without  pay. 
The  officers,  too,  assembled  together,  and  ten- 
dered him  the  aid  of  their  contributions.  He 
had  always  observed  a  very  generous  policy  in 
his  dealings  with  them,  and  he  was  now  great- 
ly gratified  at  receiving  their  requital  of  it. 

The  further  he  advanced,  too,  the  more  he 
found  the  people  of  the  country  through  which 
he  passed  disposed  to  espouse  his  cause.  They 
were  struck  with  his  generosity  in  releasing 
Domitius.  It  is  true  that  it  was  a  very  saga- 
cious policy  that  prompted  him  to  release  him. 
But  then  it  was  generosity  too.  In  fact,  there 
must  be  something  of  a  generous  spirit  in  the 
soul  to  enable  a  man  even  to  see  the  policy  of 
generous  actions. 

Among  the  letters  of  Csesar  that  remain  to 
the  present  day,  there  is  one  written  about  this 
time  to  one  of  his  friends,  in  which  he  speaks 


148 

Julius   Cjssar.            [B.C.  50. 

Letter  of  Caesar. 

Ingratitude  of  Domitius. 

of  this  subject.  "I  am  glad,"  says  he,  "that 
you  approve  of  my  conduct  at  Corfinium.  I  am 
satisfied  that  such  a  course  is  the  best  one  for 
us  to  pursue,  as  by  so  doing  we  shall  gain  the 
good  will  of  all  parties,  and  thus  secure  a  per- 
manent victory.  Most  conquerors  have  incur- 
red the  hatred  of  mankind  by  their  cruelties, 
and  have  all,  in  consequence  of  the  enmity  they 
have  thus  awakened,  been  prevented  from  long 
enjoying  their  power.  Sylla  was  an  exception ; 
but  his  example  of  successful  cruelty  I  have  no 
disposition  to  imitate.  I  will  conquer  after  a 
new  fashion,  and  fortify  myself  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  power  I  acquire  by  generosity  and 
mercy." 

Domitius  had  the  ingratitude,  after  this  re- 
lease, to  take  up  arms  again,  and  wage  a  new 
war  against  Caesar.  When  Caesar  heard  of  it, 
he  said  it  was  all  right.  "  I  will  act  out  the 
principles  of  my  nature,"  said  he,  "  and  he  may 
act  out  his." 

Another  instance  of  Caesar's  generosity  oc- 
curred, which  is  even  more  remarkable  than 
this.  It  seems  that  anions;  the  officers  of  his 
army  there  were  some  whom  he  had  appointed 
at  the  recommendation  of  Pompey,  at  the  time 
when  he  and  Pompey  were  friends.     These  men 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.  149 

Caesar's  generosity.  Modern  politicians. 

would,  of  course,  feel  under  obligations  of  grati- 
tude to  Pompey,  as  they  owed  their  military 
rank  to  his  friendly  interposition  in  their  behalf. 
As  soon  as  the  war  broke  out,  Caesar  gave  them 
all  his  free  permission  to  go  over  to  Pompey's 
side,  if  they  chose  to  do  so. 

Caesar  acted  thus  very  liberally  in  all  respects. 
He  surpassed  Pompey  very  much  in  the  spirit 
of  generosity  and  mercy  with  which  he  entered 
upon  the  great  contest  before  them.  Pompey 
ordered  every  citizen  to  join  his  standard,  de- 
claring that  he  should  consider  all  neutrals  as 
his  enemies.  Caesar,  on  the  other  hand,  gave 
free  permission  to  every  one  to  decline,  if  he 
chose,  taking  any  part  in  the  contest,  saying 
that  he  should  consider  all  who  did  not  act 
against  him  as  his  friends.  In  the  political  con- 
tests of  our  day,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
combatants  are  much  more  prone  to  imitate  the 
bigotry  of  Pompey  than  the  generosity  of  Caesar, 
condemning,  as  they  often  do,  those  who  choose 
to  stand  aloof  from  electioneering  struggles,  more 
than  they  do  their  most  determined  opponents 
and  enemies. 

When,  at  length,  Caesar  arrived  at  Brundu- 
sium,  he  found  that  Pompey  had  sent  a  part  of 
his  army  across  the  Adriatic  into  Greece,  and 


150  Julius   Cjssar.  [B.C. 50. 

Caesar  arrives  at  Brundusium.  He  besieges  Pompey. 

was  waiting  for  the  transports  to  return  that  he 
might  go  over  himself  with  the  remainder.  In 
the  mean  time,  he  had  fortified  himself  strongly 
in  the  city.  Csesar  immediately  laid  siege  to 
the  place,  and  he  commenced  some  works  to 
block  up  the  mouth  of  the  harbor.  He  built 
peers  on  each  side,  extending  out  as  far  into  the 
sea  as  the  depth  of  the  water  would  allow  them 
to  be  built.  He  then  constructed  a  series  of 
rafts,  which  he  anchored  on  the  deep  water,  in 
a  line  extending  from  one  pier  to  the  other.  He 
built  towers  upon  these  rafts,  and  garrisoned 
them  with  soldiers,  in  hopes  by  this  means  to 
prevent  all  egress  from  the  fort.  He  thought 
that,  when  this  work  was  completed,  Pompey 
would  be  entirely  shut  in,  beyond  all  possibility 
of  escape. 

The  transports,  however,  returned  before  the 
work  was  completed.  Its  progress  was,  of 
course,  slow,  as  the  constructions  were  the  scene 
of  a  continued  conflict ;  for  Pompey  sent  out 
rafts  and  galleys  against  them  every  day,  and  the 
workmen  had  thus  to  build  in  the  midst  of  con- 
tinual interruptions,  sometimes  from  showers 
of  darts,  arrows,  and  javelins,  sometimes  from 
the  conflagrations  of  fireships,  and  sometimes 
from  the  terrible  concussions  of  great  vessels 


B.C.  50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.         151 

Pompey's  plan  of  escape.  It  is  made  known  to  Cassar. 

of  war,  impelled  with  prodigious  force  against 
them.  The  transports  returned,  therefore,  be- 
fore the  defenses  were  complete,  and  contrived 
to  get  into  the  harbor.  Pompey  immediately 
formed  his  plan  for  embarking  the  remainder  of 
his  army. 

He  filled  the  streets  of  the  city  with  barri- 
cades and  pitfalls,  excepting  two  streets  which 
led  to  the  place  of  embarkation.  The  object 
of  these  obstructions  was  to  embarrass  Caesar's 
progress  through  the  city  in  case  he  should 
force  an  entrance  while  his  men  were  getting 
on  board  the  ships.  He  then,  in  order  to  divert 
Caesar's  attention  from  his  design,  doubled  the 
guards  stationed  upon  the  walls  on  the  evening 
of  his  intended  embarkation,  and  ordered  them 
to  make  vigorous  attacks  upon  all  Caesar's  forces 
outside.  He  then,  when  the  darkness  came  on, 
marched  his  troops  through  the  two  streets 
which  had  been  left  open  to  the  landing  place, 
and  got  them  as  fast  as  possible  on  board  the 
transports.  Some  of  the  people  of  the  town 
contrived  to  make  known  to  Caesar's  army  what 
was  going  on  by  means  of  signals  from  the 
walls  ;  the  army  immediately  brought  scaling 
ladders  in  great  numbers,  and,  mounting  the 
walls  with  great  ardor  and  impetuosity,  they 


152  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 50. 

Success  of  Pompey's  plan.  Ciesar's  conduct  at  Rome. 

drove  all  before  them,  and  soon  broke  open  the 
gates  and  got  possession  of  the  city.  But  the 
barricades  and  pitfalls,  together  with  the  dark- 
ness, so  embarrassed  their  movements,  that 
Pompey  succeeded  in  completing  his  embarka- 
tion and  sailing  away. 

Caesar  had  no  ships  in  which  to  follow.  He 
returned  to  Rome.  He  met,  of  course,  with  no 
opposition.  He  re-established  the  government 
there,  organized  the  Senate  anew,  and  obtained 
supplies  of  corn  from  the  public  granaries,  and  of 
money  from  the  city  treasury  in  the  Capitol.  In 
going  to  the  Capitoline  Hill  after  this  treasure, 
he  found  the  officer  who  had  charge  of  the  money 
stationed  there  to  defend  it.  He  told  Caesar 
that  it  was  contrary  to  law  for  him  to  enter. 
Caesar  said  that,  for  men  with  swords  in  their 
hands,  there  was  no  law.  The  officer  still  re- 
fused to  admit  him.  Caesar  then  told  him  to 
open  the  doors,  or  he  would  kill  him  on  the  spot. 
"And  you  must  understand,"  he  added,  "that 
it  will  be  easier  for  me  to  do  it  than  it  has  been 
to  say  it."  The  officer  resisted  no  longer,  and 
Caesar  went  in. 

After  this,  Caesar  spent  some  time  in  vig- 
orous campaigns  in  Italy,  Spain,  Sicily,  and 
Gaul,  wherever  there  was  manifested  any  op- 


B.C. 50.]  Crossing  the  Rubicon.         153 

Cassar  subdues  various  countries.         He  turns  his  thoughts  to  Pompey. 

position  to  his  sway.  When  this  work  was  ac- 
complished, and  all  these  countries  were  com- 
pletely subjected  to  his  dominion,  he  began  to 
turn  his  thoughts  to  the  plan  of  pursuing  Pom- 
pey across  the  Adriatic  Sea. 


154  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

The  gathering  armies.  Pompey's  preparations. 


Chapter  VII. 

The  Battle  of  Pharsalia. 

fTIHE  gathering  of  the  armies  of  Caesar  and 
■*■  Pompey  on  the  opposite  shores  of  the  Adri- 
atic Sea  was  one  of  the  grandest  preparations 
for  conflict  that  history  has  recorded,  and  the 
whole  world  gazed  upon  the  spectacle  at  the 
time  with  an  intense  and  eager  interest,  which 
was  heightened  by  the  awe  and  terror  which 
the  danger  inspired.  During  the  year  while 
Caesar  had  been  completing  his  work  of  subdu- 
ing and  arranging  all  the  western  part  of  the 
empire,  Pompey  had  been  gathering  from  the 
eastern  division  every  possible  contribution  to 
swell  the  military  force  under  his  command, 
and  had  been  concentrating  all  these  elements 
of  power  on  the  coasts  of  Macedon  and  Greece, 
opposite  to  Brundusium,  where  he  knew  that 
Caesar  would  attempt  to  cross  the  Adriatic  Sea. 
His  camps,  his  detachments,  his  troops  of  arch- 
ers and  slingers,  and  his  squadrons  of  horse,  fill- 
ed the  land,  while  every  port  was  guarded,  and 
the  line  of  the  coast  was  environed  by  batteries 


B.C.  48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  155 

Csesar  at  Brundusium.  His  address  to  his  army. 

and  castles  on  the  rocks,  and  fleets  of  galleys  on 
the  water.  Caesar  advanced  with  his  immense 
army  to  Brundusium,  on  the  opposite  shore,  in 
December,  so  that,  in  addition  to  the  formida- 
ble resistance  prepared  for  him  by  his  enemy 
on  the  coast,  he  had  to  encounter  the  wild  surges 
of  the  Adriatic,  rolling  perpetually  in  the  dark 
and  gloomy  commotion  always  raised  in  such 
wide  seas  by  wintery  storms. 

Caesar  had  no  ships,  for  Pompey  had  cleared 
the  seas  of  every  thing  which  could  aid  him  in 
his  intended  passage.  By  great  efforts,  howev- 
er, he  succeeded  at  length  in  getting  together 
a  sufficient  number  of  galleys  to  convey  over 
a  part  of  his  army,  provided  he  took  the  men 
alone,  and  left  all  his  military  stores  and  bag- 
gage behind.  He  gathered  his  army  together, 
therefore,  and  made  them  an  address,  represent- 
ing that  they  were  now  drawing  toward  the 
end  of  all  their  dangers  and  toils.  They  were 
about  to  meet  their  great  enemy  for  a  final  con- 
flict. It  was  not  necessary  to  take  their  serv- 
ants, their  baggage,  and  their  stores  across  the 
sea,  for  they  were  sure  of  victory,  and  victory 
would  furnish  them  with  ample  supplies  from 
those  whom  they  were  about  to  conquer. 

The  soldiers  eagerly  imbibed  the  spirit  of  con- 


156  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Caesar  crosses  the  Adriatic.  He  subdues  several  towns. 

fidence  and  courage  which  Caesar  himself  ex- 
pressed. A  large  detachment  embarked  and 
put  to  sea,  and,  after  being  tossed  all  night  upon 
the  cold  and  stormy  waters,  they  approached 
the  shore  at  some  distance  to  the  northward  of 
the  place  where  Pompey's  fleets  had  expected 
them.  It  was  at  a  point  where  the  mountains 
came  down  near  to  the  sea,  rendering  the  coast 
rugged  and  dangerous  with  shelving  rocks  and 
frowning  promontories.  Here  Csesar  succeeded 
in  effecting  a  landing  of  the  first  division  of  his 
troops,  and  then  sent  back  the  fleet  for  the  re- 
mainder. 

The  news  of  his  passage  spread  rapidly  to  all 
Pompey's  stations  along  the  coast,  and  the  ships 
began  to  gather,  and  the  armies  to  march  to- 
ward the  point  where  Caesar  had  effected  his 
landing.  The  conflict  and  struggle  commenced. 
One  of  Pompey's  admirals  intercepted  the  fleet 
of  galleys  on  their  return,  and  seized  and  burn- 
ed a  large  number  of  them,  with  all  who  were 
on  board.  This,  of  course,  only  renewed  the 
determined  desperation  of  the  remainder.  Cae- 
sar advanced  along  the  coast  with  the  troops 
which  he  had  landed,  driving  Pompey's  troops 
before  him,  and  subduing  town  after  town  as 
he  advanced.     The  country  was  filled  with  ter- 


B.C.4S.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  157 

Cesar's  advance.  Distress  of  the  armies. 


ror  and  dismay.  The  portion  of  the  army  which 
Ceesar  had  left  behind  could  not  now  cross,  part- 
ly on  account  of  the  stormy  condition  of  the 
seas,  the  diminished  number  of  the  ships,  and 
the  redoubled  vigilance  with  which  Pompey's 
forces  now  guarded  the  shores,  but  mainly  be- 
cause Caesar  was  now  no  longer  with  them  to 
inspire  them  with  his  reckless,  though  calm  and 
quiet  daring.  They  remained,  therefore,  in 
anxiety  and  distress,  on  the  Italian  shore.  As 
Ceesar,  on  the  other  hand,  advanced  along  the 
Macedonian  shore,  and  drove  Pompey  back  into 
the  interior,  he  cut  off  the  communication  be- 
tween Pompey's  ships  and  the  land,  so  that  the 
fleet  was  soon  reduced  to  great  distress  for  want 
of  provisions  and  water.  The  men  kept  them- 
selves from  perishing  with  thirst  by  collecting 
the  dew  which  fell  upon  the  decks  of  their  gal- 
leys. Csesar's  army  was  also  in  distress,  for 
Pompey's  fleets  cut  off  all  supplies  by  water, 
and  his  troops  hemmed  him  in  on  the  side  of 
the  land  ;  and,  lastly,  Pompey  himself,  with  the 
immense  army  that  was  under  his  command, 
began  to  be  struck  with  alarm  at  the  impend- 
ing danger  with  which  they  were  threatened. 
Pompey  little  realized,  however,  how  dreadful 
a  fate  was  soon  to  overwhelm  him. 


158  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C.  48. 

Caesar's  impatience.  He  attempts  to  cross  the  Adriatic. 

The  winter  months  rolled  away,  and  nothing 
effectual  was  done.  The  forces,  alternating  and 
intermingled,  as  above  described,  kept  each  oth- 
er in  a  continued  state  of  anxiety  and  suffering. 
Caesar  became  impatient  at  the  delay  of  that 
portion  of  his  army  that  he  had  left  on  the  Ital- 
ian shore.  The  messages  of  encouragement 
and  of  urgency  which  he  sent  across  to  them 
did  not  bring  them  over,  and  at  length,  one  dark 
and  stormy  night,  when  he  thought  that  the 
inclemency  of  the  skies  and  the  heavy  surging 
of  the  swell  in  the  offing  would  drive  his  vig- 
ilant enemies  into  places  of  shelter,  and  put 
them  off  their  guard,  he  determined  to  cross 
the  sea  himself  and  bring  his  hesitating  army 
over.  He  ordered  a  galley  to  be  prepared,  and 
went  on  board  of  it  disguised,  and  with  his  head 
muffled  in  his  mantle,  intending  that  not  even 
the  officers  or  crew  of  the  ship  which  was  to 
convey  him  should  know  of  his  design.  The 
galley,  in  obedience  to  orders,  put  off  from  the 
shore.  The  mariners  endeavored  in  vain  for 
some  time  to  make  head  against  the  violence 
of  the  wind  and  the  heavy  concussions  of  the 
waves,  and  at  length,  terrified  at  the  imminence 
of  the  danger  to  which  so  wild  and  tumultuous 
a  sea  on  such  a  night  exposed  them,  refused  to 


B.C.  48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  159 

Caesar  lands  the  remainder  of  his  army.  Attempts  at  negotiation. 

proceed,  and  the  commander  gave  them  orders 
to  return.  Caesar  then  came  forward,  threw 
off  his  mantle,  and  said  to  them,  "Friends! 
you  have  nothing  to  fear.  You  are  carrying 
Caesar." 

The  men  were,  of  course,  inspirited  anew  by 
this  disclosure,  but  all  was  in  vain.  The  ob- 
stacles to  the  passage  proved  insurmountable, 
and  the  galley,  to  avoid  certain  destruction,  was 
compelled  to  return. 

The  army,  however,  on  the  Italian  side,  hear- 
ing of  Caesar's  attempt  to  return  to  them,  fruit- 
less though  it  was,  and  stimulated  by  the  re- 
newed urgency  of  the  orders  which  he  now  sent 
to  them,  made  arrangements  at  last  for  an  em- 
barkation, and,  after  encountering  great  dan- 
gers on  the  way,  succeeded  in  landing  in  safety. 
Caesar,  thus  strengthened,  began  to  plan  more 
decided  operations  for  the  coming  spring. 

There  were  some  attempts  at  negotiation. 
The  armies  were  so  exasperated  against  each 
other  on  account  of  the  privations  and  hardships 
which  each  compelled  the  other  to  suffer,  that 
they  felt  too  strong  a  mutual  distrust  to  attempt 
any  regular  communication  by  commissioners  or 
embassadors  appointed  for  the  purpose.  They 
came  to  a  parley,  however,  in  one  or  two  in- 


160  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Conferences.  End  in  violence  and  disorder. 

stances,  though  the  interviews  led  to  no  result. 
As  the  missiles  used  in  those  days  were  such 
as  could  only  be  thrown  to  a  very  short  distance, 
hostile  bodies  of  men  could  approach  much 
nearer  to  each  other  then  than  is  possible  now, 
when  projectiles  of  the  most  terribly  destructive 
character  can  be  thrown  for  miles.  In  one  in- 
stance, some  of  the  ships  of  Pompey's  fleet  ap- 
proached so  near  to  the  shore  as  to  open  a  confer- 
ence with  one  or  two  of  Caesar's  lieutenants  who 
were  encamped  there.  In  another  case,  two 
bodies  of  troops  from  the  respective  armies  were 
separated  only  by  a  river,  and  the  officers  and 
soldiers  came  down  to  the  banks  on  either  side, 
and  held  frequent  conversations,  calling  to  each 
other  in  loud  voices  across  the  water.  In  this 
way  they  succeeded  in  so  far  coming  to  an  agree- 
ment as  to  fix  upon  a  time  and  place  for  a  more 
formal  conference,  to  be  held  by  commissioners 
chosen  on  each  side.  This  conference  was  thus 
held,  but  each  party  came  to  it  accompanied 
by  a  considerable  body  of  attendants,  and  these, 
as  might  have  been  anticipated,  came  into  open 
collision  while  the  discussion  was  pending ;  thus 
the  meeting  consequently  ended  in  violence  and 
disorder,  each  party  accusing  the  other  of  viola- 
ting the  faith  which  both  had  plighted. 


B.C.  48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  161 

Undecided  warfare.  Bread  made  of  roots. 

This  slow  and  undecided  mode  of  warfare  be- 
tween the  two  vast  armies  continued  for  many 
months  without  any  decisive  results.  There 
were  skirmishes,  struggles,  sieges,  blockades, 
and  many  brief  and  partial  conflicts,  but  no 
general  and  decided  battle.  Now  the  advant- 
age seemed  on  one  side,  and  now  on  the  other. 
Pompey  so  hemmed  in  Caesar's  troops  at  one 
period,  and  so  cut  off  his  supplies,  that  the  men 
were  reduced  to  extreme  distress  for  food.  At 
length  they  found  a  kind  of  root  which  they  dug 
from  the  ground,  and,  after  drying  and  pulver- 
izing it,  they  made  a  sort  of  bread  of  the  powder, 
which  the  soldiers  were  willing  to  eat  rather 
than  either  starve  or  give  up  the  contest.  They 
told  Caesar,  in  fact,  that  they  would  live  on  the 
bark  of  trees  rather  than  abandon  his  cause. 
Pompey 's  soldiers,  at  one  time,  coming  near  to 
the  walls  of  a  town  which  they  occupied,  taunt- 
ed and  jeered  them  on  account  of  their  wretch- 
ed destitution  of  food.  Caesar's  soldiers  threw 
loaves  of  this  bread  at  them  in  return,  by  way 
of  symbol  that  they  were  abundantly  supplied. 

After  some  time  the  tide  of  fortune  turned. 
Caesar  contrived,  by  a  succession  of  adroit  ma- 
neuvers and  movements,  to  escape  from  his 
toils,  and  to  circumvent  and  surround  Pompey 's 
L 


162  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Caesar  hems  Pornpey  in.  Anxiety  of  the  rivals. 

forces  so  as  soon  to  make  them  suffer  destitution 
and  distress  in  their  turn.  He  cut  off  all  com- 
munication between  them  and  the  country  at 
large,  and  turned  away  the  brooks  and  streams 
from  flowing  through  the  ground  they  occupied. 
An  army  of  forty  or  fifty  thousand  men,  with 
the  immense  number  of  horses  and  beasts  of 
burden  which  accompany  them,  require  very 
large  supplies  of  water,  and  any  destitution  or 
even  scarcity  of  water  leads  immediately  to  the 
most  dreadful  consequences.  Pompey's  troops 
dug  wells,  but  they  obtained  only  very  insuffi- 
cient supplies.  Great  numbers  of  beasts  of 
burden  died,  and  their  decaying  bodies  so  taint- 
ed the  air  as  to  produce  epidemic  diseases,  which 
destroyed  many  of  the  troops,  and  depressed  and 
disheartened  those  whom  they  did  not  destroy. 
During  all  these  operations  there  was  no  de- 
cisive general  battle.  Each  one  of  the  great  ri- 
vals knew  very  well  that  his  defeat  in  one  gen- 
eral battle  would  be  his  utter  and  irretrievable 
ruin.  In  a  war  between  two  independent  na- 
tions, a  single  victory,  however  complete,  sel- 
dom terminates  the  struggle,  for  the  defeated 
party  has  the  resources  of  a  whole  realm  to  fall 
back  upon,  which  are  sometimes  called  forth 
with  renewed  vigor  after  experiencing  such  re- 


B.C.  48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  163 

Nature  of  the  contest  between  Csesar  and  Pompey.  Both  hesitate. 

verses ;  and  then  defeat  in  such  cases,  even  if 
it  be  final,  does  not  necessarily  involve  the  ruin 
of  the  unsuccessful  commander.  He  may  ne- 
gotiate an  honorable  peace,  and  return  to  his 
own  land  in  safety  ;  and,  if  his  misfortunes  are 
considered  by  his  countrymen  as  owing  not  to 
any  dereliction  from  his  duty  as  a  soldier,  but 
to  the  influence  of  adverse  circumstances  which 
no  human  skill  or  resolution  could  have  con- 
trolled, he  may  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  prosperity  and  honor.  The  contest,  how- 
ever, between  Caesar  and  Pompey  was  not  of 
this  character.  One  or  the  other  of  them  was 
a  traitor  and  a  usurper — an  enemy  to  his  coun- 
try. The  result  of  a  battle  would  decide  which 
of  the  two  was  to  stand  in  this  attitude.  Vic- 
tory would  legitimize  and  confirm  the  authori- 
ty of  one,  and  make  it  supreme  over  the  whole 
civilized  world.  Defeat  was  to  annihilate  the 
power  of  the  other,  and  make  him  a  fugitive 
and  a  vagabond,  without  friends,  without  home, 
without  country.  It  was  a  desperate  stake; 
and  it  is  not  at  all  surprising  that  both  parties 
lingered  and  hesitated,  and  postponed  the  throw- 
ing of  the  die. 

At  length  Pompey,  rendered  desperate  by  the 
urgency  of  the  destitution   and  distress  into 


164  Julius  Cjssa-r.  [B.C. 48. 

The  armies  enter  Thessaly.  The  plain  of  Pharsalia. 

which  Caesar  had  shut  him,  made  a  series  of 
vigorous  and  successful  attacks  upon  Caesar's 
lines,  by  which  he  broke  away  in  his  turn  from 
his  enemy's  grasp,  and  the  two  armies  moved 
slowly  back  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 
hovering  in  the  vicinity  of  each  other,  like  birds 
of  prey  contending  in  the  air,  each  continually 
striking  at  the  other,  and  moving  onward  at  the 
same  time  to  gain  some  position  of  advantage, 
or  to  circumvent  the  other  in  such  a  design. 
They  passed  on  in  this  manner  over  plains,  and 
across  rivers,  and  through  mountain  passes,  un- 
til at  length  they  reached  the  heart  of  Thes- 
saly. Here  at  last  the  armies  came  to  a  stand 
and  fought  the  final  battle. 

The  place  was  known  then  as  the  plain 
of  Pharsalia,  and  the  greatness  of  the  contest 
which  was  decided  there  has  immortalized  its 
name.  Pompey's  forces  were  far  more  numer- 
ous than  those  of  Csesar,  and  the  advantage  in 
all  the  partial  contests  which  had  taken  place 
for  some  time  had  been  on  his  side  ;  he  felt,  con- 
sequently, sure  of  victory.  He  drew  up  his  men 
in  a  line,  one  flank  resting  upon  the  bank  of  a 
river,  which  protected  them  from  attack  on  that 
side.  From  this  point,  the  long  line  of  legions, 
drawn  up  in  battle  array,  extended  out  upon 


B.C. 48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia. 


165 


Roman  standard  bearers. 


Pompey  draws  up  his  army. 


Roman  Standard  Beakehs. 

the  plain,  and  was  terminated  at  the  other  ex- 
tremity by  strong  squadrons  of  horse,  and  bodies 
of  slingers  and  archers,  so  as  to  give  the  force 
of  weapons  and  the  activity  of  men  as  great  a 
range  as  possible  there,  in  order  to  prevent  Ceb- 
sar's  being  able  to  outflank  and  surround  them. 
There  was,  however,  apparently  very  little 
danger  of  this,  for  Csesar,  according  to  his  own 


166  Julius  Cjssar.  [B.C. 48. 

Forces  on  both  sides.  Appearance  of  Pompey  s  camp. 

story,  had  but  about  half  as  strong  a  force  as 
Pompey.  The  army  of  the  latter,  he  says,  con- 
sisted of  nearly  fifty  thousand  men,  while  his 
own  number  was  between  twenty  and  thirty 
thousand.  Generals,  however,  are  prone  to 
magnify  the  military  grandeur  of  their  exploits 
by  overrating  the  strength  with  which  they 
had  to  contend,  and  under-estimating  their  own. 
We  are  therefore  to  receive  with  some  distrust 
the  statements  made  by  Caesar  and  his  parti- 
sans ;  and  as  for  Pompey's  story,  the  total  and 
irreparable  ruin  in  which  he  himself  and  all  who 
adhered  to  him  were  entirely  overwhelmed  im- 
mediately after  the  battle,  prevented  its  being 
ever  told. 

In  the  rear  of  the  plain  where  Pompey's  lines 
were  extended  was  the  camp  from  which  the 
army  had  been  drawn  out  to  prepare  for  the 
battle.  The  camp  fires  of  the  preceding  night 
were  moldering  away,  for  it  was  a  warm  sum- 
mer morning ;  the  intrenchments  were  guard- 
ed, and  the  tents,  now  nearly  empty,  stood  ex- 
tended in  long  rows  within  the  inclosure.  In 
the  midst  of  them  was  the  magnificent  pavilion 
of  the  general,  furnished  with  every  imaginable 
article  of  luxury  and  splendor.  Attendants 
were  busy  here  and  there,  some   rearranging 


B.C. 48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  167 

Pompey's  tent.  His  confidence  of  victory. 

what  had  been  left  in  disorder  by  the  call  to 
arms  by  which  the  troops  had  been  summoned 
from  their  places  of  rest,  and  others  preparing 
refreshments  and  food  for  their  victorious  com- 
rades when  they  should  return  from  the  battle. 
In  Pompey's  tent  a  magnificent  entertainment 
was  preparing.  The  tables  were  spread  with 
every  luxury,  the  sideboards  were  loaded  with 
plate,  and  the  whole  scene  was  resplendent  with 
utensils  and  decorations  of  silver  and  gold. 

Pompey  and  all  his  generals  were  perfectly 
certain  of  victory.  In  fact,  the  peace  and  har- 
mony of  their  councils  in  camp  had  been  de- 
stroyed for  many  days  by  their  contentions  and 
disputes  about  the  disposal  of  the  high  offices, 
and  the  places  of  profit  and  power  at  Rome, 
which  were  to  come  into  their  hands  when  Cae- 
sar should  have  been  subdued.  The  subduing 
of  Caesar  they  considered  only  a  question  of 
time ;  and,  as  a  question  of  time,  it  was  now 
reduced  to  very  narrow  limits.  A  few  days 
more,  and  they  were  to  be  masters  of  the  whole 
Roman  empire,  and,  impatient  and  greedy,  they 
disputed  in  anticipation  about  the  division  of 
the  spoils. 

To  make  assurance  doubly  sure,  Pompey 
gave  orders  that  his  troops  should  not  advance 


168  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

The  battle  of  Pharsalia.  Defeat  of  Pompey. 

to  meet  the  onset  of  Caesar's  troops  on  the  mid- 
dle ground  between  the  two  armies,  but  that 
they  should  wait  calmly  for  the  attack,  and  re- 
ceive the  enemy  at  the  posts  where  they  had 
themselves  been  arrayed. 

The  hour  at  length  arrived,  the  charge  was 
sounded  by  the  trumpets,  and  Caesar's  troops 
began  to  advance  with  loud  shouts  and  great 
impetuosity  toward  Pompey's  lines.  There 
was  a  long  and  terrible  struggle,  but  the  forces 
of  Pompey  began  finally  to  give  way.  Notwith- 
standing the  precautions  which  Pompey  had  ta- 
ken to  guard  and  protect  the  wing  of  his  army 
which  was  extended  toward  the  land,  Caesar 
succeeded  in  turning  his  flank  upon  that  side 
by  driving  off  the  cavalry  and  destroying  the 
archers  and  slingers,  and  he  was  thus  enabled 
to  throw  a  strong  force  upon  Pompey's  rear. 
The  flight  then  soon  became  general,  and  a 
scene  of  dreadful  confusion  and  slaughter  en- 
sued. The  soldiers  of  Caesar's  army,  maddened 
with  the  insane  rage  which  the  progress  of  a 
battle  never  fails  to  awaken,  and  now  excited 
to  phrensy  by  the  exultation  of  success,  pressed 
on  after  the  affrighted  fugitives,  who  trampled 
one  upon  another,  or  fell  pierced  with  the  weap- 
ons of  their  assailants,  filling  the  air  with  their 


B.C.  48.]  Battle  of  Pharsalia.  169 

Scene  of  horror.  Pompey's  flight  to  the  camp. 

cries  of  agony  and  their  shrieks  of  terror.  The 
horrors  of  the  scene,  far  from  allaying,  only  ex- 
cited still  more  the  ferocity  of  their  bloodthirsty 
foes,  and  they  pressed  steadily  and  fiercely  on, 
hour  after  hour,  in  their  dreadful  work  of  de- 
struction. It  was  one  of  those  scenes  of  horror 
and  woe,  such  as  those  who  have  not  witnessed 
them  can  not  conceive  of,  and  those  who  have 
witnessed  can  never  forget. 

When  Pompey  perceived  that  all  was  lost, 
he  fled  from  the  field  in  a  state  of  the  wildest 
excitement  and  consternation.  His  troops  were 
flying  in  all  directions,  some  toward  the  camp, 
vainly  hoping  to  find  refuge  there,  and  others 
in  various  other  quarters,  wherever  they  saw 
the  readiest  hope  of  escape  from  their  merciless 
pursuers.  Pompey  himself  fled  instinctively 
toward  the  camp.  As  he  passed  the  guards  at 
the  gate  where  he  entered,  he  commanded  them, 
in  his  agitation  and  terror,  to  defend  the  gate 
against  the  coming  enemy,  saying  that  he  was 
going  to  the  other  gates  to  attend  to  the  defenses 
there.  He  then  hurried  on,  but  a  full  sense  of 
the  helplessness  and  hopelessness  of  his  condi- 
tion soon  overwhelmed  him ;  he  gave  up  all 
thought  of  defense,  and,  passing  with  a  sinking 
heart  through  the  scene  of  consternation  and 


170  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C.  48. 

Pompey  in  his  tent.  His  consternation  and  despair. 

confusion  which  reigned  every  where  within 
the  encampment,  he  sought  his  own  tent,  and, 
rushing  into  it,  sank  down,  amid  the  luxury 
and  splendor  which  had  been  arranged  to  do 
honor  to  his  anticipated  victory,  in  a  state  of 
utter  stupefaction  and  despair. 


B.C.  48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  171 

Pursuit  of  the  vanquished.  Pompey  recovers  himself. 


Chapter  VIII. 

Flight  and  Death  of  Pompey. 

/^i^ESAR  pursued  the  discomfited  and  flying 
^-^  bodies  of  Pompey's  army  to  the  camp. 
They  made  a  brief  stand  upon  the  ramparts 
and  at  the  gates,  in  a  vain  and  fruitless  strug- 
gle against  the  tide  of  victory  which  they  soon 
perceived  must  fully  overwhelm  them.  They 
gave  way  continually  here  and  there  along  the 
lines  of  intrenchment,  and  column  after  column 
of  Caesar's  followers  broke  through  into  the 
camp.  Pompey,  hearing  from  his  tent  the  in- 
creasing noise  and  uproar,  was  at  length  aroused 
from  his  stupor,  and  began  to  summon  his  fac- 
ulties to  the  question  what  he  was  to  do.  At 
length  a  party  of  fugitives,  hotly  pursued  by 
some  of  Caesar's  soldiers,  broke  into  his  tent. 
"What!"  said  Pompey,  "into  my  tent  too!" 
He  had  been  for  more  than  thirty  years  a  vic- 
torious general,  accustomed  to  all  the  deference 
and  respect  which  boundless  wealth,  extended 
and  absolute  power,  and  the  highest  military 
rank  could  afford.     In  the  encampments  which 


172  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  48. 

Potnpey  disguises  himself.  He  escapes  from  the  camp. 

he  had  made,  and  in  the  cities  which  he  had 
occupied  from  time  to  time,  he  had  been  the 
supreme  and  unquestioned  master,  and  his  tent, 
arranged  and  furnished,  as  it  had  always  been, 
in  a  style  of  the  utmost  magnificence  and  splen- 
dor, had  been  sacred  from  all  intrusion,  and  in- 
vested with  such  a  dignity  that  potentates  and 
princes  were  impressed  when  they  entered  with 
a  feeling  of  deference  and  awe.  Now,  rude 
soldiers  burst  wildly  into  it,  and  the  air  without 
was  filled  with  an  uproar  and  confusion,  draw- 
ing every  moment  nearer  and  nearer,  and  warn- 
ing the  fallen  hero  that  there  was  no  longer  any 
protection  there  against  the  approaching  torrent 
which  was  coming  on  to  overwhelm  him. 

Pompey  aroused  himself  from  his  stupor, 
threw  off  the  military  dress  which  belonged  to 
his  rank  and  station,  and  assumed  a  hasty  dis- 
guise, in  which  he  hoped  he  might  make  his  es- 
cape from  the  immediate  scene  of  his  calamities. 
He  mounted  a  horse  and  rode  out  of  the  camp 
at  the  easiest  place  of  egress  in  the  rear,  in  com- 
pany with  bodies  of  troops  and  guards  who  were 
also  flying  in  confusion,  while  Caesar  and  his 
forces  on  the  other  side  were  carrying  the  in- 
trenchments  and  forcing  their  way  in.  As  soon 
as  he  had  thus  made  his  escape  from  the  im- 


B.C.  48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  173 

The  Vale  of  Tempe.  Its  picturesqueness. 

mediate  scene  of  danger,  he  dismounted  and  left 
his  horse,  that  he  might  assume  more  com- 
pletely the  appearance  of  a  common  soldier,  and, 
with  a  few  attendants  who  were  willing  to  fol- 
low his  fallen  fortunes,  he  went  on  to  the  east- 
ward, directing  his  weary  steps  toward  the 
shores  of  the  ^Egean  Sea. 

The  country  through  which  he  was  traveling 
was  Thessaly.  ThessaJy  is  a  vast  amphithea- 
ter, surrounded  by  mountains,  from  whose  sides 
streams  descend,  which,  after  watering  many 
fertile  valleys  and  plains,  combine  to  form  one 
great  central  river  that  flows  to  the  eastward, 
and  after  various  meanderings,  finds  its  way 
into  theiEgean  Sea  through  a  romantic  gap  be- 
tween two  mountains,  called  the  Vale  of  Tempe 
— a  vale  which  has  been  famed  in  all  asres  for  the 
extreme  picturesqueness  of  its  scenery,  and  in 
which,  in  those  days,  all  the  charms  both  of  the 
most  alluring  beauty  and  of  the  sublimest  gran- 
deur seemed  to  be  combined.  Pompey  followed 
the  roads  leading  along  the  banks  of  this  stream, 
weary  in  body,  and  harassed  and  disconsolate 
in  mind.  The  news  which  came  to  him  from 
time  to  time,  by  the  flying  parties  which  were 
moving  through  the  country  in  all  directions, 
of  the  entire  and  overwhelming  completeness 


174  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Pompey's  sufferings.  A  drink  of  water. 

of  Caesar's  victory,  extinguished  all  remains  of 
hope,  and  narrowed  down  at  last  the  grounds 
of  his  solicitude  to  the  single  point  of  his  own 
personal  safety.  He  was  well  aware  that  he 
should  be  pursued,  and,  to  baffle  the  efforts 
which  he  knew  that  his  enemies  would  make 
to  follow  his  track,  he  avoided  large  towns,  and 
pressed  forward  in  by-ways  and  solitudes,  bear- 
ing as  patiently  as  he  was  able  his  increasing 
destitution  and  distress.  He  reached,  at  length, 
the  Vale  of  Tempe,  and  there,  exhausted  with 
hunger,  thirst,  and  fatigue,  he  sat  down  upon 
the  bank  of  the  stream  to  recover  by  a  little 
rest  strength  enough  for  the  remainder  of  his 
weary  way.  He  wished  for  a  drink,  but  he  had 
nothing  to  drink  from.  And  so  the  mighty  po- 
tentate, whose  tent  was  full  of  delicious  bever- 
ages, and  cups  and  goblets  of  silver  and  gold, 
extended  himself  down  upon  the  sand  at  the 
margin  of  the  river,  and  drank  the  warm  water 
directly  from  the  stream. 

While  Pompey  was  thus  anxiously  and  toil- 
somely endeavoring  to  gain  the  sea-shore,  Cae- 
sar was  completing  his  victory  over  the  army 
which  he  had  left  behind  him.  When  Caesar 
had  carried  the  intrench ments  of  the  camp,  and 
the  army  found  that  there  was  no  longer  any 


B.C. 48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  175 

Caesar  in  Pompey's  camp.  Retreat  of  Pompey's  army. 

safety  for  them  there,  they  continued  their  re- 
treat under  the  guidance  of  such  generals  as  re- 
mained. Caesar  thus  gained  undisputed  pos- 
session of  the  camp.  He  found  every  where 
the  marks  of  wealth  and  luxury,  and  indica- 
tions of  the  confident  expectation  of  victory 
which  the  discomfited  army  had  entertained. 
The  tents  of  the  generals  were  crowned  with 
myrtle,  the  beds  were  strewed  with  flowers, 
and  tables  every  where  were  spread  for  feasts, 
with  cups  and  bowls  of  wine  all  ready  for  the 
expected  revelers.  Caesar  took  possession  of 
the  whole,  stationed  a  proper  guard  to  protect 
the  property,  and  then  pressed  forward  with  his 
army  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy. 

Pompey's  army  made  their  way  to  a  neighbor- 
ing rising  ground,  where  they  threw  up  hasty  in- 
trenchments  to  protect  themselves  for  the  night. 
A  rivulet  ran  near  the  hill,  the  access  to  which 
they  endeavored  to  secure,  in  order  to  obtain 
supplies  of  water.  Caesar  and  his  forces  follow- 
ed them  to  this  spot.  The  day  was  gone,  and  it 
was  too  late  to  attack  them.  Caesar's  soldiers, 
too,  were  exhausted  with  the  intense  and  pro- 
tracted excitement  and  exertions  which  had  now 
been  kept  up  for  many  hours  in  the  battle  and 
in  the  pursuit,  and  they  needed  repose.     They 


176  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Surrender  of  Pompey's  army.  Pompey  in  the  Vale  of  Tempe. 

made,  however,  one  effort  more.  They  seized 
the  avenue  of  approach  to  the  rivulet,  and  threw 
up  a  temporary  intrenchment  to  secure  it, 
which  intrenchment  they  protected  with  a 
guard  ;  and  then  the  army  retired  to  rest,  leav- 
ing their  helpless  victims  to  while  away  the 
hours  of  the  night,  tormented  with  thirst,  and 
overwhelmed  with  anxiety  and  despair.  This 
could  not  long  be  endured.  They  surrendered 
in  the  morning,  and  Caesar  found  himself  in 
possession  of  over  twenty  thousand  prisoners. 

In  the  mean  time,  Pompey  passed  on  through 
the  Vale  of  Tempe  toward  the  sea,  regardless  of 
the  beauty  and  splendor  that  surrounded  him, 
and  thinking  only  of  his  fallen  fortunes,  and 
revolving  despairingly  in  his  mind  the  various 
forms  in  which  the  final  consummation  of  his 
ruin  might  ultimately  come.  At  length  he 
reached  the  sea-shore,  and  found  refuge  for  the 
night  in  a  fisherman's  cabin.  A  small  number 
of  attendants  remained  with  him,  some  of  whom 
were  slaves.  These  he  now  dismissed,  direct- 
ing them  to  return  and  surrender  themselves  to 
Caesar,  saying  that  he  was  a  generous  foe,  and 
that  they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  him.  His 
other  attendants  he  retained,  and  he  made  ar- 
rangements for  a  boat  to  take  him  the  next  day 


B.C.  48.]       Death  op  Pompey.  177 

Pompey  embarks  on  board  a  vessel.  The  shipmaster's  dream. 

along  the  coast.  It  was  a  river  boat,  and  un- 
suited  to  the  open  sea,  but  it  was  all  that  he 
could  obtain. 

He  arose  the  next  morning  at  break  of  day, 
and  embarked  in  the  little  vessel,  with  two  or 
three  attendants,  and  the  oarsmen  began  to 
row  away  along  the  shore.  They  soon  came  in 
sight  of  a  merchant  ship  just  ready  to  sail.  The 
master  of  this  vessel,  it  happened,  had  seen 
Pompey,  and  knew  his  countenance,  and  he  had 
dreamed,  as  a  famous  historian  of  the  times  re- 
lates, on  the  night  before,  that  Pompey  had 
come  to  him  in  the  guise  of  a  simple  soldier 
and  in  great  distress,  and  that  he  had  received 
and  rescued  him.  There  was  nothing  extraor- 
dinary in  such  a  dream  at  such  a  time,  as  the 
contest  between  Caesar  and  Pompey,  and  the 
approach  of  the  final  collision  which  was  to  de- 
stroy one  or  the  other  of  them,  filled  the  minds 
and  occupied  the  conversation  of  the  world. 
The  shipmaster,  therefore,  having  seen  and 
known  one  of  the  great  rivals  in  the  approach- 
ing conflict,  would  naturally  find  both  his  wak- 
ing and  sleeping  thoughts  dwelling  on  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  his  fancy,  in  his  dreams,  might  eas- 
ily picture  the  scene  of  his  rescuing  and  saving 
the  fallen  hero  in  the  hour  of  his  distress. 
M 


178  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C.  48. 


Pompey  goes  on  board  a  merchant  ship.  His  arrival  at  Amphipolis. 

However  this  may  be,  the  shipmaster  is  said 
to  have  been  relating  his  dream  to  the  seamen 
on  the  deck  of  his  vessel  when  the  boat  which 
was  conveying  Pompey  came  into  view.  Pom- 
pey  himself,  having  escaped  from  the  land,  sup- 
posed all  immediate  danger  over,  not  imagining 
that  seafaring  men  would  recognize  him  in  such 
a  situation  and  in  such  a  disguise.  The  ship- 
master did,  however,  recognize  him.  He  was 
overwhelmed  with  grief  at  seeing  him  in  such 
a  condition.  With  a  countenance  and  with 
gestures  expressive  of  earnest  surprise  and  sor- 
row, he  beckoned  to  Pompey  to  come  on  board. 
He  ordered  his  own  ship's  boat  to  be  immedi- 
ately let  down  to  meet  and  receive  him.  Pom- 
pey came  on  board.  The  ship  was  given  up  to 
his  possession,  and  every  possible  arrangement 
was  made  to  supply  his  wants,  to  contribute  to 
his  comfort,  and  to  do  him  honor. 

The  vessel  conveyed  him  to  Amphipolis,  a 
city  of  Macedonia  near  the  sea,  and  to  the  north- 
ward and  eastward  of  the  place  where  he  had 
embarked.  When  Pompey  arrived  at  the  port, 
he  sent  proclamations  to  the  shore,  calling  upon 
the  inhabitants  to  take  arms  and  join  his  stand- 
ard. He  did  not,  however,  land,  or  take  any 
other  measures  for  carrying  these  arrangements 


B.C. 48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  179 

Pompey's  wife  Cornelia.  Her  beauty  and  accomplishments. 

into  effect.  He  only  waited  in  the  river  upon 
which  Amphipolis  stands  long  enough  to  re- 
ceive a  supply  of  money  from  some  of  his  friends 
on  the  shore,  and  stores  for  his  voyage,  and  then 
set  sail  again.  Whether  he  learned  that  Cae- 
sar was  advancing  in  that  direction  with  a  force 
too  strong  for  him  to  encounter,  or  found  that 
the  people  were  disinclined  to  espouse  his  cause, 
or  whether  the  whole  movement  was  a  feint  to 
direct  Caesar's  attention  to  Macedon  as  the  field 
of  his  operations,  in  order  that  he  might  escape 
more  secretly  and  safely  beyond  the  sea,  can 
not  now  be  ascertained. 

Pompey's  wife  Cornelia  was  on  the  island  of 
Lesbos,  at  Mitylene,  near  the  western  coast  of 
Asia  Minor.  She  was  a  lady  of  distinguished 
beauty,  and  of  great  intellectual  superiority  and 
moral  worth.  She  was  extremely  well  versed 
in  all  the  learning  of  the  times,  and  yet  was 
entirely  free  from  those  peculiarities  and  airs 
which,  as  her  historian  says,  were  often  ob- 
served in  learned  ladies  in  those  days.  Pom- 
pey had  married  her  after  the  death  of  Julia, 
Caesar's  daughter.  They  were  strongly  devot- 
ed to  each  other.  Pompey  had  provided  for  her 
a  beautiful  retreat  on  the  island  of  Lesbos, 
where  she  was  living  in  elegance  and  splendor, 


180  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C.  48. 

Pompey's  arrival  at  Mitylene.  His  meeting  with  Cornelia. 

beloved  for  her  own  intrinsic  charms,  and  high- 
ly honored  on  account  of  the  greatness  and  fame 
of  her  husband.  Here  she  had  received  from 
time  to  time  glowing  accounts  of  his  success, 
all  exaggerated  as  they  came  to  her,  through 
the  eager  desire  of  the  narrators  to  give  her 
pleasure. 

From  this  high  elevation  of  honor  and  happi- 
ness the  ill-fated  Cornelia  suddenly  fell,  on  the 
arrival  of  Pompey's  solitary  vessel  at  Mitylene, 
bringing  as  it  did,  at  the  same  time,  both  the 
first  intelligence  of  her  husband's  fall,  and  him- 
self in  person,  a  ruined  and  homeless  fugitive 
and  wanderer.  The  meeting  was  sad  and  sor- 
rowful. Cornelia  was  overwhelmed  at  the  sud- 
denness and  violence  of  the  shock  which  it 
brought  her,  and  Pompey  lamented  anew  the 
dreadful  disaster  that  he  had  sustained,  at  find- 
ing how  inevitably  it  must  involve  his  beloved 
wife  as  well  as  himself  in  its  irreparable  ruin. 

The  pain,  however,  was  not  wholly  without 
some  mingling  of  pleasure.  A  husband  finds 
a  strange  sense  of  protection  and  safety  in  the 
presence  and  sympathy  of  an  affectionate  wife 
in  the  hour  of  his  calamity.  She  can,  perhaps, 
do  nothing,  but  her  mute  and  sorrowful  con- 
cern and  pity  comfort  and  reassure  him.     Cor- 


B.C.  48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  181 

Pompey  gathers  a  little  fleet.  He  sails  along  the  Mediterranean. 

nelia,  however,  was  able  to  render  her  husband 
some  essential  aid.  She  resolved  immediately 
to  accompany  him  wherever  he  should  go  ;  and, 
by  their  joint  endeavors,  a  little  fleet  was  gath- 
ered, and  such  supplies  as  could  be  hastily  ob- 
tained, and  such  attendants  and  followers  as 
were  willing  to  shars  his  fate,  were  taken  on 
board.  During  all  this  time  Pompey  would 
not  go  on  shore  himself,  but  remained  on  board 
his  ship  in  the  harbor.  Perhaps  he  was  afraid 
of  some  treachery  or  surprise,  or  perhaps,  in 
his  fallen  and  hopeless  condition,  he  was  un- 
willing to  expose  himself  to  the  gaze  of  those 
who  had  so  often  seen  him  in  all  the  splendor 
of  his  former  power. 

At  length,  wiien  all  was  ready,  he  sailed  away. 
He  passed  eastward  along  the  Mediterranean, 
touching  at  such  ports  as  he  supposed  most 
likely  to  favor  his  cause.  Vague  and  uncer- 
tain, but  still  alarming  rumors  that  Csesar  was 
advancing  in  pursuit  of  him  met  him  every 
where,  and  the  people  of  the  various  provinces 
were  taking  sides,  some  in  his  favor  and  some 
against  him,  the  excitement  being  every  where 
so  great  that  the  utmost  caution  and  circum- 
spection were  required  in  all  his  movements. 
Sometimes  he  was  refused  permission  to  land ; 


182  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Pompey  receives  additional  supplies.  He  seeks  refuge  in  Egypt. 

at  others,  his  friends  were  too  few  to  afford  him 
protection ;  and  at  others  still,  though  the  au- 
thorities professed  friendship,  he  did  not  dare  to 
trust  them.  He  obtained,  however,  some  sup- 
plies of  money  and  some  accessions  to  the  num- 
ber of  ships  and  men  under  his  command,  until 
at  length  he  had  quite  a  little  fleet  in  his  train. 
Several  men  of  rank  and  influence,  who  had 
served  under  him  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity, 
nobly  adhered  to  him  now,  and  formed  a  sort 
of  court  or  council  on  board  his  galley,  where 
they  held  with  their  great  though  fallen  com- 
mander frequent  conversations  on  the  plan  which 
it  was  best  to  pursue. 

It  was  finally  decided  that  it  was  best  to  seek 
refuge  in  Egypt.  There  seemed  to  be,  in  fact, 
no  alternative.  All  the  rest  of  the  world  was 
evidently  going  over  to  Csesar.  Pompey  had 
been  the  means,  some  years  before,  of  restoring 
a  certain  king  of  Egypt  to  his  throne,  and  many 
of  his  soldiers  had  been  left  in  the  country,  and 
remained  there  still.  It  is  true  that  the  king 
himself  had  died.  He  had  left  a  daughter 
named  Cleopatra,  and  also  a  son,  who  was  at 
this  time  very  young.  The  name  of  this  youth- 
ful prince  was  Ptolemy.  Ptolemy  and  Cleo- 
patra had  been  made  by  their  father  joint  heirs 


B.C.  48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  183 

Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra.  Pompey  arrives  at  Pelusium. 

to  the  throne.  But  Ptolemy,  or,  rather,  the 
ministers  and  counselors  who  acted  for  him  and 
in  his  name,  had  expelled  Cleopatra,  that  they 
might  govern  alone.  Cleopatra  had  raised  an 
army  in  Syria,  and  was  on  her  way  to  the  fron- 
tiers of  Egypt  to  regain  possession  of  what  she 
deemed  her  rights.  Ptolemy's  ministers  had 
gone  forth  to  meet  her  at  the  head  of  their  own 
troops,  Ptolemy  himself  being  also  with  them. 
They  had  reached  Pelusium,  which  is  the  fron- 
tier town  between  Egypt  and  Syria  on  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean.  Here  their  armies  had 
assembled  in  vast  encampments  upon  the  land, 
and  their  galleys  and  transports  were  riding  at 
anchor  along  the  shore  of  the  sea.  Pompey  and 
his  counselors  thought  that  the  government  of 
Ptolemy  would  receive  him  as  a  friend,  on  ac- 
count of  the  services  he  had  rendered  to  the 
young  prince's  father,  forgetting  that  gratitude 
has  never  a  place  on  the  list  of  political  virtues. 
Pompey's  little  squadron  made  its  way  slowly 
over  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  toward 
Pelusium  and  the  camp  of  Ptolemy.  As  they 
approached  the  shore,  both  Pompey  himself  and 
Cornelia  felt  many  anxious  forebodings.  A  mes- 
senger was  sent  to  the  land  to  inform  the  young- 
king  of  Pompey's  approach,  and  to  solicit  his 


184  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  48. 

Ptolemy's  council  resolve  to  murder  Pompey.        The  assassin  Achillas. 

protection.  The  government  of  Ptolemy  held  a 
council,  and  took  the  subject  into  consideration. 

Various  opinions  were  expressed,  and  various 
plans  were  proposed.  The  counsel  which  was 
finally  followed  was  this.  It  would  be  danger- 
ous to  receive  Pompey,  since  that  would  make 
Caesar  their  enemy.  It  would  be  dangerous  to 
refuse  to  receive  him,  as  that  would  make  Pom- 
pey their  enemy,  and,  though  powerless  now,  he 
might  one  day  be  in  a  condition  to  seek  venge- 
ance. It  was  wisest,  therefore,  to  destroy  him. 
They  would  invite  him  to  the  shore,  and  kill  him 
when  he  landed.  This  would  please  Caesar ; 
and  Pompey  himself,  being  dead,  could  never  re- 
venge it.  "  Dead  dogs,"  as  the  orator  said  who 
made  this  atrocious  proposal,  "  do  not  bite." 

An  Egyptian,  named  Achillas,  was  appointed 
to  execute  the  assassination  thus  decreed.  An 
invitation  was  sent  to  Pompey  to  land,  accom- 
panied with  a  promise  of  protection  ;  and,  when 
his  fleet  had  approached  near  enough  to  the 
shore,  Achillas  took  a  small  party  in  a  boat,  and 
went  out  to  meet  his  galley.  The  men  in  this 
boat,  of  course,  were  armed. 

The  officers  and  attendants  of  Pompey  watch- 
ed all  these  movements  from  the  deck  of  his 
galley.     They  scrutinized  every  thing  that  oc- 


B.C.  48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  185 

Suspicions  of  Pompey's  friends.  Entreaties  of  Cornelia. 

curred  with  the  closest  attention  and  the  great- 
est anxiety,  to  see  whether  the  indications  de- 
noted an  honest  friendship  or  intentions  of 
treachery.  The  appearances  were  not  favora- 
ble. Pompey's  friends  observed  that  no  prepa- 
rations were  making  along  the  shore  for  receiv- 
ing him  with  the  honors  due,  as  they  thought, 
to  his  rank  and  station.  The  manner,  too,  in 
which  the  Egyptians  seemed  to  expect  him 
to  land  was  ominous  of  evil.  Only  a  single 
insignificant  boat  for  a  potentate  who  recent- 
ly had  commanded  half  the  world  !  Then,  be- 
sides, the  friends  of  Pompey  observed  that  sev- 
eral of  the  principal  galleys  of  Ptolemy's  fleet 
were  getting  up  their  anchors,  and  preparing 
apparently  to  be  ready  to  move  at  a  sudden  call. 
These  and  other  indications  appeared  much 
more  like  preparations  for  seizing  an  enemy 
than  welcoming  a  friend.  Cornelia,  who,  with 
her  little  son,  stood  upon  the  deck  of  Pompey's 
galley,  watching  the  scene  with  a  peculiar  in- 
tensity of  solicitude  which  the  hardy  soldiers 
around  her  could  not  have  felt,  became  soon  ex- 
ceedingly alarmed.  She  begged  her  husband 
not  to  go  on  shore.  But  Pompey  decided  that 
it  was  now  too  late  to  retreat.  He  could  not 
escape  from  the  Egyptian  galleys  if  they  had 


186  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Pompey's  forlorn  condition.  He  determines  to  land. 

received  orders  to  intercept  him,  nor  could  he 
resist  violence  if  violence  were  intended.  To  do 
any  thing  like  that  would  evince  distrust,  and 
to  appear  like  putting  himself  upon  his  guard 
would  be  to  take  at  once,  himself,  the  position 
of  an  enemy,  and  invite  and  justify  the  hostility 
of  the  Egyptians  in  return.  As  to  flight,  he 
could  not  hope  to  escape  from  the  Egyptian  gal- 
leys if  they  had  received  orders  to  prevent  it ; 
and,  besides,  if  he  were  determined  on  attempt- 
ing an  escape,  whither  should  he  fly  ?  The 
world  was  against  him.  His  triumphant  en- 
emy was  on  his  track  in  full  pursuit,  with  all 
the  vast  powers  and  resources  of  the  whole  Ro- 
man empire  at  his  command.  There  remained 
for  Pompey  only  the  last  forlorn  hope  of  a  refuge 
in  Egypt,  or  else,  as  the  sole  alternative,  a  com- 
plete and  unconditional  submission  to  Caesar. 
His  pride  would  not  consent  to  this,  and  he  de- 
termined, therefore,  dark  as  the  indications 
were,  to  place  himself,  without  any  appearance 
of  distrust,  in  Ptolemy's  hands,  and  abide  the 
issue. 

The  boat  of  Achillas  approached  the  galley. 
When  it  touched  the  side,  Achillas  and  the 
other  officers  on  board  of  it  hailed  Pompey  in 
the  most  respectful  manner,  giving  him  the  title 


B.C.  48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  187 

Preparations  for  landing.  Pompey  takes  leave  of  his  wife. 

of  Imperator,  the  highest  title  known  in  the 
Roman  state.  Achillas  addressed  Pompey  in 
Greek.  The  Greek  was  the  language  of  edu- 
cated men  in  all  the  Eastern  countries  in  those 
days.  He  told  him  that  the  water  was  too 
shallow  for  his  galley  to  approach  nearer  to  the 
shore,  and  invited  him  to  come  onboard  of  his 
boat,  and  he  would  take  him  to  the  beach,  where, 
as  he  said,  the  king  was  waiting  to  receive  him. 

With  many  anxious  forebodings,  that  were 
but  ill  concealed,  Pompey  made  preparations  to 
accept  the  invitation.  He  bade  his  wife  fare- 
well, who  clung  to  him  as  they  were  about  to 
part  with  a  gloomy  presentiment  that  they 
should  never  meet  again.  Two  centurions  who 
were  to  accompany  Pompey,  and  two  servants, 
descended  into  the  boat.  Pompey  himself  fol- 
lowed, and  then  the  boatmen  pushed  off  from 
the  galley  and  made  toward  the  shore.  The 
decks  of  all  the  vessels  in  Pompey's  little  squad- 
ron, as  well  as  those  of  the  Egyptian  fleet,  were 
crowded  with  spectators,  and  lines  of  soldiery 
and  groups  of  men,  all  intently  watching  the 
operations  of  the  landing,  were  scattered  along 
the  shore. 

Among  the  men  whom  Achillas  had  provid- 
ed to  aid  him  in  the  assassination  was  an  offi- 


188 

Julius   Caesar. 

[B.C.  48. 

The  assassins. 

Gloomy  silence. 

cer  of  the  Roman  army  who  had  formerly  serv- 
ed under  Pompey.  As  soon  as  Pompey  was 
seated  in  the  boat,  he  recognized  the  counte- 
nance of  this  man,  and  addressed  him,  saying, 
"I  think  I  remember  you  as  having  been  in  for- 
mer days  my  fellow-soldier."  The  man  replied 
merely  by  a  nod  of  assent.  Feeling  somewhat 
guilty  and  self-condemned  at  the  thoughts  of 
the  treachery  which  he  was  about  to  perpetrate, 
he  was  little  inclined  to  renew  the  recollection 
of  the  days  when  he  was  Pompey's  friend.  In 
fact,  the  whole  company  in  the  boat,  filled  on 
the  one  part  with  awe  in  anticipation  of  the  ter- 
rible deed  which  they  were  soon  to  commit, 
and  on  the  other  with  a  dread  suspense  and 
alarm,  were  little  disposed  for  conversation, 
and  Pompey  took  out  a  manuscript  of  an  ad- 
dress in  Greek  which  he  had  prepared  to  make 
to  the  young  king  at  his  approaching  interview 
with  him,  and  occupied  himself  in  reading  it 
over.  Thus  they  advanced  in  a  gloomy  and 
solemn  silence,  hearing  no  sound  but  the  dip  of 
the  oars  in  the  water,  and  the  gentle  dash  of 
the  waves  along  the  line  of  the  shore. 

At  length  the  boat  touched  the  sand,  while 
Cornelia  still  stood  on  the  deck  of  the  galley, 
watching  every  movement  with  great  solicitude 


B.C. 48.]       Death  of  Pompey.  189 

Assassination  of  Pompey.  Cornelia. 

and  concern.  One  of  the  two  servants  whom 
Pompey  had  taken  with  him,  named  Philip,  his 
favorite  personal  attendant,  rose  to  assist  his 
master  in  landing.  He  gave  Pompey  his  hand 
to  aid  him  in  rising  from  his  seat,  and  at  that 
moment  the  Roman  officer  whom  Pompey  had 
recognized  as  his  fellow-soldier,  advanced  behind 
him  and  stabbed  him  in  the  back.  At  the  same 
instant  Achillas  and  the  others  drew  their 
swords.  Pompey  saw  that  all  was  lost.  He 
did  not  speak,  and  he  uttered  no  cry  of  alarm, 
though  Cornelia's  dreadful  shriek  was  so  loud 
and  piercing  that  it  was  heard  upon  the  shore. 
From  the  suffering  victim  himself  nothing  was 
heard  but  an  inarticulate  groan  extorted  by  his 
agony.  He  gathered  his  mantle  over  his  face, 
and  sank  down  and  died. 

Of  course,  all  was  now  excitement  and  con- 
fusion. As  soon  as  the  deed  was  done,  the  per- 
petrators of  it  retired  from  the  scene,  taking 
the  head  of  their  unhappy  victim  with  them,  to 
offer  to  Caesar  as  proof  that  his  enemy  was  re- 
ally no  more.  The  officers  who  remained  in 
the  fleet  which  had  brought  Pompey  to  the 
coast  made  all  haste  to  sail  away,  bearing  the 
wretched  Cornelia  with  them,  utterly  distract- 
ed with  grief  and  despair,  while  Philip  and  his 


190  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C. 48. 

The  funeral  pile.  Pompey's  ashes  sent  to  Cornelia. 

fellow-servant  remained  upon  the  beach,  stand- 
ing bewildered  and  stupefied  over  the  headless 
body  of  their  beloved  master.  Crowds  of  spec- 
tators came  in  succession  to  look  upon  the  hid- 
eous spectacle  a  moment  in  silence,  and  then  to 
turn,  shocked  and  repelled,  away.  At  length, 
when  the  first  impulse  of  excitement  had  in 
some  measure  spent  its  force,  Philip  and  his 
comrades  so  far  recovered  their  composure  as 
to  begin  to  turn  their  thoughts  to  the  only  con- 
solation that  was  now  left  to  them,  that  of  per- 
forming the  solemn  duties  of  sepulture.  They 
found  the  wreck  of  a  fishing  boat  upon  the 
strand,  from  which  they  obtained  wood  enough 
for  a  rude  funeral  pile.  They  burned  what  re- 
mained of  the  mutilated  body,  and,  gathering 
up  the  ashes,  they  put  them  in  an  urn  and 
sent  them  to  Cornelia,  who  afterward  buried 
them  at  Alba  with  many  bitter  tears. 


„,,r 


B.C. 48.]        Cesar  in  Egypt.  193 

Caesar  after  the  battle  of  Pharsalia.  His  clemency. 


Chapter   IX. 

CiESAR    IN    E  GYPT. 

f  liESAR  surveyed  the  field  of  battle  after 
^^  the  victory  of  Pharsalia,  not  with  the  feel- 
ings of  exultation  which  might  have  been  ex- 
pected in  a  victorious  general,  but  with  compas- 
sion and  sorrow  for  the  fallen  soldiers  whose 
dead  bodies  covered  the  ground.  After  gazing 
upon  the  scene  sadly  and  in  silence  for  a  time, 
he  said,  "  They  would  have  it  so,"  and  thus 
dismissed  from  his  mind  all  sense  of  his  own 
responsibility  for  the  consequences  which  had 
ensued. 

He  treated  the  immense  body  of  prisoners 
which  had  fallen  into  his  hands  with  great  clem- 
ency, partly  from  the  natural  impulses  of  his 
disposition,  which  were  always  generous  and 
noble,  and  partly  from  policy,  that  he  might 
conciliate  them  all,  officers  and  soldiers,  to  ac- 
quiescence in  his  future  rule.  He  then  sent 
back  a  large  portion  of  his  force  to  Italy,  and, 
taking  a  body  of  cavalry  from  the  rest,  in  order 
that  he  might  advance  with  the  utmost  possible 
N 


194  Julius   Cjisar.  [B.C. 48. 

Caesar  pursues  Pompey.  Treasures  of  the  Temple  of  Diana. 

rapidity,  he  set  off  through  Thessaly  and  Mac- 
edon  in  pursuit  of  his  fugitive  foe. 

He  had  no  naval  force  at  his  command,  and 
he  accordingly  kept  upon  the  land.  Besides, 
he  wished,  by  moving  through  the  country  at 
the  head  of  an  armed  force,  to  make  a  demon- 
stration which  should  put  down  any  attempt 
that  might  be  made  in  any  quarter  to  rally  or 
concentrate  a  force  in  Pompey's  favor.  He 
crossed  the  Hellespont,  and  moved  down  the 
coast  of  Asia  Minor.  There  was  a  great  tem- 
ple consecrated  to  Diana  at  Ephesus,  which, 
for  its  wealth  and  magnificence,  was  then  the 
wonder  of  the  world.  The.  authorities  who  had 
it  in  their  charge,  not  aware  of  Caesar's  ap- 
proach, had  concluded  to  withdraw  the  treas- 
ures from  the  temple  and  loan  them  to  Pompey, 
to  be  repaid  when  he  should  have  regained  his 
power.  An  assembly  was  accordingly  convened 
to  witness  the  delivery  of  the  treasures,  and  take 
note  of  their  value,  which  ceremony  was  to  be 
performed  with  great  formality  and  parade, 
when  they  learned  that  Caesar  had  crossed  the 
Hellespont  and  was  drawing  near.  The  whole 
proceeding  was  thus  arrested,  and  the  treasures 
were  retained. 

Caesar  passed  rapidly  on  through  Asia  Minor, 


B.C.  48.]        CiESAR  in  Egypt.  195 

Caesar  in  Asia  Minor.  He  sails  for  Egypt. 

examining  and  comparing,  as  he  advanced,  the 
vague  rumors  which  were  continually  coming 
in  in  respect  to  Pompey's  movements.  He 
learned  at  length  that  he  had  gone  to  Cyprus ; 
he  presumed  that  his  destination  was  Egypt, 
and  he  immediately  resolved  to  provide  himself 
with  a  fleet,  and  follow  him  thither  by  sea.  As 
time  passed  on,  and  the  news  of  Pompey's  de- 
feat and  flight,  and  of  Caesar's  triumphant  pur- 
suit of  him,  became  generally  extended  and  con- 
firmed, the  various  powers  ruling  in  all  that  re- 
gion of  the  world  abandoned  one  after  another 
the  hopeless  cause,  and  began  to  adhere  to  Cae- 
sar. They  offered  him  such  resources  and  aid 
as  he  might  desire.  He  did  not,  however,  stop 
to  organize  a  large  fleet  or  to  collect  an  army. 
He  depended,  like  Napoleon,  in  all  the  great 
movements  of  his  life,  not  on  grandeur  of  prep- 
aration, but  on  celerity  of  action.  He  organ- 
ized at  Rhodes  a  small  but  very  efficient  fleet 
of  ten  galleys,  and,  embarking  his  best  troops 
in  them,  he  made  sail  for  the  coasts  of  Egypt. 
Pompey  had  landed  at  Pelusium,  on  the  east- 
ern frontier,  having  heard  that  the  young  king 
and  his  court  were  there  to  meet  and  resist  Cle- 
opatra's invasion.  Caesar,  however,  with  the 
characteristic  boldness  and  energy  of  his  char- 


196  Julius   C^sar.  [B.C. 48. 

Caesar  at  Alexandria.  The  Roman  fasces. 

acter,  proceeded  directly  to  Alexandria,  the  cap- 
ital. 

Egypt  was,  in  those  days,  an  ally  of  the  Ro- 
mans, as  the  phrase  was ;  that  is,  the  country, 
though  it  preserved  its  independent  organiza- 
tion and  its  forms  of  royalty,  was  still  united 
to  the  Roman  people  by  an  intimate  league,  so 
as  to  form  an  integral  part  of  the  great  empire. 
Caesar,  consequently,  in  appearing  there  with 
an  armed  force,  would  naturally  be  received  as 
a  friend.  He  found  only  the  garrison  which 
Ptolemy's  government  had  left  in  charge  of  the 
city.  At  first  the  officers  of  this  garrison  gave 
him  an  outwardly  friendly  reception,  but  they 
soon  began  to  take  offense  at  the  air  of  author- 
ity and  command  which  he  assumed,  and  which 
seemed  to  them  to  indicate  a  spirit  of  encroach- 
ment on  the  sovereignty  of  their  own  king. 

Feelings  of  deeply-seated  alienation  and  ani- 
mosity sometimes  find  their  outward  expression 
in  contests  about  things  intrinsically  of  very 
little  importance.  It  was  so  in  this  case.  The 
Roman  consuls  were  accustomed  to  use  a  cer- 
tain badge  of  authority  called  the  fasces.  It 
consisted  of  a  bundle  of  rods,  bound  around  the 
handle  of  an  ax*     Whenever  a  consul  appeared 

*  For  a  representation  of  the  fasces,  see  the  illuminated 
title-page  of  this  volume,  in  the  border,  on  the  right  hand. 


B.C. 48.]        Cesar  in  Egypt.  197 

The  lictors.  Pompey's  head  sent  to  Caesar. 

in  public,  he  was  preceded  by  two  officers  called 
lictors,  each  of  whom  carried  the  fasces  as  a 
symbol  of  the  power  which  was  vested  in  the 
distinguished  personage  who  followed  them. 

The  Egyptian  officers  and  the  people  of  the 
city  quarreled  with  Caesar  on  account  of  his 
moving  about  among  them  in  his  imperial  state, 
accompanied  by  a  life  guard,  and  preceded  by 
the  lictors.  Contests  occurred  between  his 
troops  and  those  of  the  garrison,  and  many  dis- 
turbances were  created  in  the  streets  of  the 
city.  Although  no  serious  collision  took  place, 
Caesar  thought  it  prudent  to  strengthen  his  force, 
and  he  sent  back  to  Europe  for  additional  le- 
gions to  come  to  Egypt  and  join  him. 

The  tidings  of  Pompey's  death  came  to  Cae- 
sar at  Alexandria,  and  with  them  the  head  of 
the  murdered  man,  which  was  sent  by  the  gov- 
ernment of  Ptolemy,  they  supposing  that  it 
would  be  an  acceptable  gift  to  Caesar.  Instead 
of  being  pleased  with  it,  Caesar  turned  from  the 
shocking  spectacle  in  horror.  Pompey  had  been, 
for  many  years  now  gone  by,  Caesar's  colleague 
and  friend.  He  had  been  his  son-in-law,  and 
thus  had  sustained  to  him  a  very  near  and  en- 
dearing relation.  In  the  contest  which  had  at 
last  unfortunately  arisen,  Pompey  had  done  no 


198  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Caesar  mourns  Pompey.  Pompey's  signet  ring. 

wrong  either  to  Caesar  or  to  the  government  at 
Rome.  He  was  the  injured  party,  so  far  as 
there  was  a  right  and  a  wrong  to  such  a  quar- 
rel. And  now,  after  being  hunted  through  half 
the  world  by  his  triumphant  enemy,  he  had  been 
treacherously  murdered  by  men  pretending  to 
receive  him  as  a  friend.  The  natural  sense  of 
justice,  which  formed  originally  so  strong  a  trait 
in  Caesar's  character,  was  not  yet  wholly  extin- 
guished. He  could  not  but  feel  some  remorse  at 
the  thoughts  of  the  long  course  of  Violence  and 
wrong  which  he  had  pursued  against  his  old 
champion  and  friend,  and  which  had  led  at  last 
to  so  dreadful  an  end.  Instead  of  being  pleas- 
ed with  the  horrid  trophy  which  the  Egyptians 
sent  him,  he  mourned  the  death  of  his  great  ri- 
val with  sincere  and  unaffected  grief,  and  was 
filled  with  indignation  against  his  murderers. 

Pompey  had  a  signet  ring  upon  his  finger  at 
the  time  of  his  assassination,  which  was  taken 
off  by  the  Egyptian  officers  and  carried  away 
to  Ptolemy,  together  with  the  other  articles  of 
value  which  had  been  found  upon  his  person. 
Ptolemy  sent  this  seal  to  Caesar  to  complete  the 
proof  that  its  possessor  was  no  more.  Caesar  re- 
ceived this  memorial  with  eager  though  mourn- 
ful pleasure,  and  he   preserved   it  with   great 


B.C. 48.]        CiESAR  in  Egypt. 


199 


Caesar's  respect  for  Pompey's  memory. 


Pompey's  Pillar. 


care.  And  in  many  ways,  during  all  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life,  he  manifested  every  outward 
indication  of  cherishing  the  highest  respect  for 
Pompey's  memory.  There  stands  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  among  the  ruins  of  Alexandria,  a  beau- 
tiful column,  about  one  hundred  feet  high,  which 
has  been  known  in  all  modern  times  as  Pompey's 
Pillar.     It  is  formed  of  stone,  and  is  in  three 


Pompey's  Pillar. 


200  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Origin  of  Pompey's  Pillar.  Surrender  of  Pompey's  officers. 

parts.  One  stone  forms  the  pedestal,  another 
the  shaft,  and  a  third  the  capital.  The  beauty 
of  this  column,  the  perfection  of  its  workman- 
ship, which  still  continues  in  excellent  preser- 
vation, and  its  antiquity,  so  great  that  all  dis- 
tinct record  of  its  origin  is  lost,  have  combined 
to  make  it  for  many  ages  the  wonder  and  ad- 
miration of  mankind.  Although  no  history  of 
its  origin  has  come  down  to  us,  a  tradition  has 
descended  that  Caesar  built  it  during  his  resi- 
dence  in  Egypt,  to  commemorate  the  name  of 
Pompey ;  but  whether  it  was  his  own  victory 
over  Pompey,  or  Pompey's  own  character  and 
military  fame  which  the  structure  was  intended 
to  signalize  to  mankind,  can  not  now  be  known. 
There  is  even  some  doubt  whether  it  was  erect- 
ed by  Caesar  at  all. 

While  Caesar  was  in  Alexandria,  many  of 
Pompey's  officers,  now  that  their  master  was 
dead,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  possibility 
of  their  rallying  again  under  his  guidance  and 
command,  came  in  and  surrendered  themselves 
to  him.  He  received  them  with  great  kindness, 
and,  instead  of  visiting  them  with  any  penal- 
ties for  having  fought  against  him,  he  honored 
the  fidelity  and  bravery  they  had  evinced  in  the 
service  of  their  own  former  master.     Caesar  had, 


B.C. 48.]        C^sar  in  Egypt.  201 

Caesar's  generosity.  His  position  at  Alexandria. 

in  fact,  shown  the  same  generosity  to  the  sol- 
diers of  Pompey's  army  that  he  had  taken  pris- 
oners at  the  battle  of  Pharsalia.  At  the  close 
of  the  battle,  he  issued  orders  that  each  one  of 
his  soldiers  should  have  permission  to  save  one 
of  the  enemy.  Nothing  could  more  strikingly 
exemplify  both  the  generosity  and  the  tact  that 
marked  the  great  conqueror's  character  than 
this  incident.  The  hatred  and  revenge  which 
had  animated  his  victorious  soldiery  in  the  battle 
and  in  the  pursuit,  were  changed  immediately 
by  the  permission  to  compassion  and  good  will. 
The  ferocious  soldiers  turned  at  once  from  the 
pleasure  of  hunting  their  discomfited  enemies 
to  death,  to  that  of  protecting  and  defending 
them ;  and  the  way  was  prepared  for  their  being 
received  into  his  service,  and  incorporated  with 
the  rest  of  his  army  as  friends  and  brothers. 

Caesar  soon  found  himself  in  so  strong  a  po- 
sition at  Alexandria,  that  he  determined  to  ex- 
ercise his  authority  as  Roman  consul  to  settle 
the  dispute  in  respect  to  the  succession  of  the 
Egyptian  crown.  There  was  no  difficulty  in 
finding  pretexts  for  interfering  in  the  affairs  of 
Egypt.  In  the  first  place,  there  was,  as  he  con- 
tended, great  anarchy  and  confusion  at  Alex- 
andria, people  taking  different  sides  in  the  con- 


202  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 

Caesar's  interference  in  Egyptian  affairs.  Cleopatra. 

troversy  with  such  fierceness  as  to  render  it  im- 
possible that  good  government  and  public  order 
should  be  restored  until  this  great  question  was 
settled.  He  also  claimed  a  debt  due  from  the 
Egyptian  government,  which  Photinus,  Ptole- 
my's minister  at  Alexandria,  was  very  dilatory 
in  paying.  This  led  to  animosities  and  dis- 
putes ;  and,  finally,  Caesar  found,  or  pretended  to 
find,  evidence  that  Photinus  was  forming  plots 
against  his  life.  At  length  Caesar  determined 
on  taking  decided  action.  He  sent  orders  both 
to  Ptolemy  and  to  Cleopatra  to  disband  their 
forces,  to  repair  to  Alexandria,  and  lay  their 
respective  claims  before  him  for  his  adjudication. 

Cleopatra  complied  with  this  summons,  and 
returned  to  Egypt  with  a  view  to  submitting 
her  case  to  Caesar's  arbitration.  Ptolemy  de- 
termined to  resist.  He  advanced  toward  Egypt, 
but  it  was  at  the  head  of  his  army,  and  with  a 
determination  to  drive  Caesar  and  all  his  Roman 
followers  away. 

When  Cleopatra  arrived,  she  found  that  the 
avenues  of  approach  to  Caesar's  quarters  were 
all  in  possession  of  her  enemies,  so  that,  in  at- 
tempting to  join  him,  she  incurred  danger  of 
falling  into  their  hands  as  a  prisoner.  She  re- 
sorted to  a  stratagem,  as  the  story  is,  to  gain  a 


B.C.  48.]        Caesar  in  Egypt.  203 

Caesar's  guilty  passion  for  Cleopatra.  Resistance  of  Ptolemy. 

secret  admission.  They  rolled  her  up  in  a  sort 
of  bale  of  bedding  or  carpeting,  and  she  was 
carried  in  in  this  way  on  the  back  of  a  man, 
through  the  guards,  who  might  otherwise  have 
intercepted  her.  Caesar  was  very  much  pleased 
with  this  device,  and  with  the  successful  result 
of  it.  Cleopatra,  too,  was  young  and  beautiful, 
and  Caesar  immediately  conceived  a  strong  but 
guilty  attachment  to  her,  which  she  readily  re- 
turned. Caesar  espoused  her  cause,  and  decided 
that  she  and  Ptolemy  should  jointly  occupy  the 
throne. 

Ptolemy  and  his  partisans  were  determined 
not  to  submit  to  this  award.  The  consequence 
was,  a  violent  and  protracted  war.  Ptolemy 
was  not  only  incensed  at  being  deprived  of  what 
he  considered  his  just  right  to  the  realm,  he  was 
also  half  distracted  at  the  thought  of  his  sister's 
disgraceful  connection  with  Caesar.  His  ex- 
citement and  distress,  and  the  exertions  and  ef- 
forts to  which  they  aroused  him,  awakened  a 
strong  sympathy  in  his  cause  among  the  people, 
and  Caesar  found  himself  involved  in  a  very  se- 
rious contest,  in  which  his  own  life  was  brought 
repeatedly  into  the  most  imminent  danger,  and 
which  seriously  threatened  the  total  destruction 
of  his  power.     He,  however,  braved  all  the  dif- 


204  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 48. 


The  Alexandrine  war. 


ficulty  and  dangers,  and  recklessly  persisted  in 
the  course  he  had  taken,  under  the  influence  of 
the  infatuation  in  which  his  attachment  to  Cleo- 
patra held  him,  as  by  a  spell. 

The  war  in  which  Caesar  was  thus  involved 
by  his  efforts  to  give  Cleopatra  a  seat  with  her 
brother  on  the  Egyptian  throne,  is  called  in  his- 
tory the  Alexandrine  war.  It  was  marked  by 
many  strange  and  romantic  incidents.  There 
was  a  light-house,  called  the  Pharos,  on  a  small 
island  opposite  the  harbor  of  Alexandria,  and  it 
was  so  famed,  both  on  account  of  the  great  mag- 
nificence of  the  edifice  itself,  and  also  on  account 
of  its  position  at  the  entrance  to  the  greatest 
commercial  port  in  the  world,  that  it  has  given 
its  name,  as  a  generic  appellation,  to  all  other 
structures  of  the  kind — any  light-house  being 
now  called  a  Pharos,  just  as  any  serious  diffi- 
culty is  called  a  Gordian  knot.  The  Pharos 
was  a  lofty  tower — the  accounts  say  that  it  was 
five  hundred  feet  in  height,  which  would  be  an 
enormous  elevation  for  such  a  structure — and 
in  a  lantern  at  the  top  a  brilliant  light  was  kept 
constantly  burning,  which  could  be  seen  over 
the  water  for  a  hundred  miles.  The  tower  was 
built  in  several  successive  stories,  each  being 
ornamented  with  balustrades,  galleries,  and  col- 


B.C.  48.]        C;esar  in  Egypt.  205 

Great  splendor  of  the  Pharos.  It  is  captured  by  Cgesar. 

umns,  so  that  the  splendor  of  the  architecture 
by  day  rivaled  the  brilliancy  of  the  radiation 
which  beamed  from  the  summit  by  night.  Far 
and  wide  over  the  stormy  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean this  meteor  glowed,  inviting  and  guid- 
ing the  mariners  in  ;  and  both  its  welcome  and 
its  guidance  were  doubly  prized  in  those  ancient 
days,  when  there  was  neither  compass  nor  sex- 
tant on  which  they  could  rely.  In  the  course 
of  the  contest  with  the  Egyptians,  Caesar  took 
possession  of  the  Pharos,  and  of  the  island  on 
which  it  stood  :  and  as  the  Pharos  was  then 
regarded  as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the 
world,  the  fame  of  the  exploit,  though  it  was 
probably  nothing  remarkable  in  a  military  point 
of  view,  spread  rapidly  throughout  the  world. 

And  yet,  though  the  capture  of  a  light-house 
was  no  very  extraordinary  conquest,  in  the 
course  of  the  contests  on  the  harbor  which  were 
connected  with  it  Caesar  had  a  very  narrow 
escape  from  death.  In  all  such  struggles  he  was 
accustomed  always  to  take  personally  his  full 
share  of  the  exposure  and  the  danger.  This 
resulted  in  part  from  the  natural  impetuosity 
and  ardor  of  his  character,  which  were  always 
aroused  to  double  intensity  of  action  by  the  ex- 
citement of  battle,   and  partly  from  the  ideas 


206  Julius   C^sar.  [B.C. 48. 

Situation  of  the  Pharos.  Caesar's  personal  danger. 

of  the  military  duty  of  a  commander  which  pre- 
vailed in  those  days.  There  was  besides,  in 
this  case,  an  additional  inducement  to  acquire 
the  glory  of  extraordinary  exploits,  in  Caesar's 
desire  to  be  the  object  of  Cleopatra's  admira- 
tion, who  watched  all  his  movements,  and  who 
was  doubly  pleased  with  his  prowess  and  brav- 
ery, since  she  saw  that  they  were  exercised  for 
her  sake  and  in  her  cause. 

The  Pharos  was  built  upon  an  island,  which 
was  connected  by  a  pier  or  bridge  with  the  main 
land.  In  the  course  of  the  attack  upon  this 
bridge,  Caesar,  with  a  party  of  his  followers,  got 
driven  back  and  hemmed  in  by  a  body  of  the 
enemy  that  surrounded  them,  in  such  a  place 
that  the  only  mode  of  escape  seemed  to  be  by  a 
boat,  which  might  take  them  to  a  neighboring 
galley.  They  began,  therefore,  all  to  crowd  into 
the  boat  in  confusion,  and  so  overloaded  it  that 
it  was  obviously  in  imminent  danger  of  being 
upset  or  of  sinking.  The  upsetting  or  sinking 
of  an  overloaded  boat  brings  almost  certain  de- 
struction upon  most  of  the  passengers,  whether 
swimmers  or  not,  as  they  seize  each  other  in 
their  terror,  and  go  down  inextricably  entangled 
together,  each  held  by  the  others  in  the  convul- 
sive grasp  with  which  drowning  men  always 


B.C. 48.]         CiESAR  in  Egypt.  207 

Caesar's  narrow  escape.  The  Alexandrian  library. 

cling  to  whatever  is  within  their  reach.  Caesar, 
anticipating  this  danger,  leaped  over  into  the 
sea  and  swam  to  the  ship.  He  had  some  papers 
in  his  hand  at  the  time — plans,  perhaps,  of  the 
works  which  he  was  assailing.  These  he  held 
above  the  water  with  his  left  hand,  while  he 
swam  with  the  right.  And  to  save  his  purple 
cloak  or  mantle,  the  emblem  of  his  imperial 
dignity,  which  he  supposed  the  enemy  would 
eagerly  seek  to  obtain  as  a  trophy,  he  seized  it 
by  a  corner  between  his  teeth,  and  drew  it  after 
him  through  the  water  as  he  swam  toward  the 
galley.  The  boat  which  he  thus  escaped  from 
soon  after  went  down,  with  all  on  board. 

During  the  progress  of  this  Alexandrine  war 
one  great  disaster  occurred,  which  has  given  to 
the  contest  a  most  melancholy  celebrity  in  all 
subsequent  ages  :  this  disaster  was  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Alexandrian  library.  The  Egyp- 
tians were  celebrated  for  their  learning,  and, 
under  the  munificent  patronage  of  some  of  their 
kings,  the  learned  men  of  Alexandria  had  made 
an  enormous  collection  of  writings,  which  were 
inscribed,  as  was  the  custom  in  those  days,  on 
parchment  rolls.  The  number  of  the  rolls  or 
volumes  was  said  to  be  seven  hundred  thousand ; 
and  when  we  consider  that  each  one  was  writ- 


208  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C. 48. 

Burning  of  the  Alexandrian  library.  Caesar  returns  to  Rome. 

ten  with  great  care,  in  beautiful  characters,  with 
a  pen,  and  at  a  vast  expense,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  collection  was  the  admiration  of  the 
world.  In  fact,  the  whole  body  of  ancient  litera- 
ture was  there  recorded.  Caesar  set  fire  to  some 
Egyptian  galleys,  which  lay  so  near  the  shore 
that  the  wind  blew  the  sparks  and  flames  upon  the 
buildings  on  the  quay.  The  fire  spread  among 
the  palaces  and  other  magnificent  edifices  of  that 
part  of  the  city,  and  one  of  the  great  buildings 
in  which  the  library  was  stored  was  reached  and 
destroyed.  There  was  no  other  such  collection 
in  the  world ;  and  the  consequence  of  this  calam- 
ity has  been,  that  it  is  only  detached  and  insu- 
lated fragments  of  ancient  literature  and  science 
that  have  come  down  to  our  times.  The  world 
will  never  cease  to  mourn  the  irreparable  loss. 
Notwithstanding  the  various  untoward  inci- 
dents which  attended  the  war  in  Alexandria 
during  its  progress,  Caesar,  as  usual,  conquered 
in  the  end.  The  young  king  Ptolemy  was  de- 
feated, and,  in  attempting  to  make  his  escape 
across  a  branch  of  the  Nile,  he  was  drowned. 
Caesar  then  finally  settled  the  kingdom  upon 
Cleopatra  and  a  younger  brother,  and,  after  re- 
maining for  some  time  longer  in  Egypt,  he  set 
out  on  his  return  to  Rome. 


UK?    ' 


. 


B.C.  48.]         Cesar  in  Egypt.  211 

Subsequent  adventures  of  Cleopatra.  Her  splendid  barge. 

The  subsequent  adventures  of  Cleopatra  were 
so  romantic  as  to  have  given  her  name  a  very 
wide  celebrity.  The  lives  of  the  virtuous  pass 
smoothly  and  happily  away,  but  the  tale,  when 
told  to  others,  possesses  but  little  interest  or  at- 
traction ;  while  those  of  the  wicked,  whose  days 
are  spent  in  wretchedness  and  despair,  and  are 
thus  full  of  misery  to  the  actors  themselves,  af- 
ford to  the  rest  of  mankind  a  high  degree  of 
pleasure,  from  the  dramatic  interest  of  the  story. 

Cleopatra  led  a  life  of  splendid  sin,  and,  of 
course,  of  splendid  misery.  She  visited  Caesar 
in  Rome  after  his  return  thither.  Caesar  re- 
ceived her  magnificently,  and  paid  her  all  pos- 
si  ble  honors  ;  but  the  people  of  Rome  regarded 
her  with  strong  reprobation.  When  her  young 
brother,  whom  Caesar  had  made  her  partner  on 
the  throne,  was  old  enough  to  claim  his  share, 
she  poisoned  him.  After  Caesar's  death,  she 
went  from  Alexandria  to  Syria  to  meet  An- 
tony, one  of  Caesar's  successors,  in  a  galley  or 
barge,  which  was  so  rich,  so  splendid,  so  mag- 
nificently furnished  and  adorned,  that  it  was 
famed  throughout  the  world  as  Cleopatra's 
barge.  A  great  many  beautiful  vessels  have 
since  been  called  by  the  same  name.  Cleopa- 
tra connected  herself  with  Antony,  who  became 


212  Julius  Cesar."  [B.C. 48. 

Antony  and  Octavius.  Death  of  Cleopatra. 

infatuated  with  her  beauty  and  her  various 
charms  as  Caesar  had  been.  After  a  great  va- 
riety of  romantic  adventures,  Antony  was  de- 
feated in  battle  by  his  great  rival  Octavius,  and, 
supposing  that  he  had  been  betrayed  by  Cleo- 
patra, he  pursued  her  to  Egypt,  intending  to 
kill  her.  She  hid  herself  in  a  sepulcher,  spread- 
ing a  report  that  she  had  committed  suicide, 
and  then  Antony  stabbed  himself  in  a  fit  of 
remorse  and  despair.  Before  he  died,  he  learn- 
ed that  Cleopatra  was  alive,  and  he  caused  him- 
self to  be  carried  into  her  presence  and  died  in 
her  arms.  Cleopatra  then  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Octavius,  who  intended  to  carry  her  to  Rome 
to  grace  his  triumph.  To  save  herself  from 
this  humiliation,  and  weary  with  a  life  which, 
full  of  sin  as  it  had  been,  was  a  constant  series 
of  sufferings,  she  determined  to  die.  A  servant 
brought  in  an  asp  for  her,  concealed  in  a  vase 
of  flowers,  at  a  great  banquet.  She  laid  the 
poisonous  reptile  on  her  naked  arm,  and  died 
immediately  of  the  bite  which  it  inflicted. 


B.C.  47.]      Cesar  Imperator.  213 

Caesar  again  at  Rome.  Combinations  against  him. 


Chapter    X. 
C^sar    Imperator. 

ALTHOUGH  Pompey  himself  had  been 
killed,  and  the  army  under  his  immediate 
command  entirely  annihilated,  Caesar  did  not 
find  that  the  empire  was  yet  completely  sub- 
missive to  his  sway.  As  the  tidings  of  his  con- 
quests spread  over  the  vast  and  distant  regions 
which  were  under  the  Roman  rule — although 
the  story  itself  of  his  exploits  might  have  been 
exaggerated — the  impression  produced  by  his 
power  lost  something  of  its  strength,  as  men 
generally  have  little  dread  of  remote  danger. 
While  he  was  in  Egypt,  there  were  three  great 
concentrations  of  power  formed  against  him  in 
other  quarters  of  the  globe :  in  Asia  Minor,  in 
Africa,  and  in  Spain.  In  putting  down  these 
three  great  and  formidable  arrays  of  opposi- 
tion, Caesar  made  an  exhibition  to  the  world 
of  that  astonishing  promptness  and  celerity  of 
military  action  on  which  his  fame  as  a  general 
so  much  depends.  He  went  first  to  Asia  Minor, 
and  fought  a  great  and  decisive  battle  there,  in 


214  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C. 47. 

Veni,  vidi,  vici.  Ceesar  made  dictator. 

a  manner  so  sudden  and  unexpected  to  the 
forces  that  opposed  him  that  they  found  them- 
selves defeated  almost  before  they  suspected  that 
their  enemy  was  near.  It  was  in  reference  to 
this  battle  that  he  wrote  the  inscription  for  the 
banner,  "Veni,  vidi,  vici."  The  words  may  be 
rendered  in  English,  "I  came,  looked,  and  con- 
quered," though  the  peculiar  force  of  the  ex- 
pression, as  well  as  the  alliteration,  is  lost  in 
any  attempt  to  translate  it. 

In  the  mean  time,  Caesar's  prosperity  and 
success  had  greatly  strengthened  his  cause  at 
Rome.  Rome  was  supported  in  a  great  meas- 
ure by  the  contributions  brought  home  from  the 
provinces  by  the  various  military  heroes  who 
were  sent  out  to  govern  them ;  and,  of  course, 
the  greater  and  more  successful  was  the  con- 
queror, the  better  was  he  qualified  for  stations 
of  highest  authority  in  the  estimation  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city.  They  made  Caesar 
dictator  even  while  he  was  away,  and  appointed 
Mark  Antony  his  master  of  horse.  This  was 
the  same  Antony  whom  we  have  already  men- 
tioned as  having  been  connected  with  Cleopatra 
after  Caesar's  death.  Rome,  in  fact,  was  filled 
with  the  fame  of  Caesar's  exploits,  and,  as  he 
crossed  the  Adriatic  and  advanced  toward  the 


B.C. 47.]      Cesar  Imperator.  215 

Opposition  of  Cato.  Pompey's  sons. 

city,  he  found  himself  the  object  of  universal 
admiration  and  applause. 

But  he  could  not  yet  be  contented  to  estab- 
lish himself  quietly  at  Rome.  There  was  a 
large  force  organized  against  him  in  Africa  un- 
der Cato,  a  stern  and  indomitable  man,  who  had 
long  been  an  enemy  to  Caesar,  and  who  now 
considered  him  as  a  usurper  and  an  enemy  of 
the  republic,  and  was  determined  to  resist  him 
to  the  last  extremity.  There  was  also  a  large 
force  assembled  in  Spain  under  the  command 
of  two  sons  of  Pompey,  in  whose  case  the  or- 
dinary political  hostility  of  contending  partisans 
was  rendered  doubly  intense  and  bitter  by  their 
desire  to  avenge  their  father's  cruel  fate.  Caesar 
determined  first  to  go  to  Africa,  and  then,  after 
disposing  of  Cato's  resistance,  to  cross  the  Medi- 
terranean into  Spain. 

Before  he  could  set  out,  however,  on  these 
expeditions,  he  was  involved  in  very  serious 
difficulties  for  a  time,  on  account  of  a  great  dis- 
content which  prevailed  in  his  army,  and  which 
ended  at  last  in  open,  mutiny.  The  soldiers 
complained  that  they  had  not  received  the  re- 
wards and  honors  which  Caesar  had  promised 
them.  Some  claimed  offices,  others  money, 
others  lands,  which,  as  they  maintained,  they 


216  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C.  47. 

Complaints  of  the  soldiers.  They  mutiny. 

had  been  led  to  expect  would  be  conferred  upon 
them  at  the  end  of  the  campaign.  The  fact 
undoubtedly  was,  that,  elated  with  their  suc- 
cess, and  intoxicated  with  the  spectacle  of  the 
boundless  influence  and  power  which  their  gen- 
eral so  obviously  wielded  at  Rome,  they  formed 
expectations  and  hopes  for  themselves  altogether 
too  wild  and  unreasonable  to  be  realized  by  sol- 
diers ;  for  soldiers,  however  much  they  may  be 
flattered  by  their  generals  in  going  into  battle, 
or  praised  in  the  mass  in  official  dispatches,  are 
after  all  but  slaves,  and  slaves,  too,  of  the  very 
humblest  caste  and  character. 

The  famous  tenth  legion,  Caesar's  favorite 
corps,  took  the  most  active  part  in  fomenting 
these  discontents,  as  might  naturally  have  been 
expected,  since  the  attentions  and  the  praises 
which  he  had  bestowed  upon  them,  though  at 
first  they  tended  to  awaken  their  ambition,  and 
to  inspire  them  with  redoubled  ardor  and  cour- 
age, ended,  as  such  favoritism  always  does,  in 
making  them  vain,  self-important,  and  unreas- 
onable. Led  on  thus  by  the  tenth  legion,  the 
whole  army  mutinied.  They  broke  up  the 
camp  where  they  had  been  stationed  at  some 
distance  beyond  the  walls  of  Rome,  and  march- 
ed toward  the  city.     Soldiers  in  a  mutiny,  even 


B.C. 47.]      Cjisar   Imperator.  217 

The  army  marches  to  Rome.  Plan  of  the  soldiers. 

though  headed  by  their  subaltern  officers,  are 
very  little  under  command ;  and  these  Roman 
troops,  feeling  released  from  their  usual  re- 
straints, committed  various  excesses  on  the 
way,  terrifying  the  inhabitants  and  spreading 
universal  alarm.  The  people  of  the  city  were 
thrown  into  utter  consternation  at  the  approach 
of  the  vast  horde,  which  was  coming  like  a  ter- 
rible avalanche  to  descend  upon  them. 

The  army  expected  some  signs  of  resistance 
at  the  gates,  which,  if  offered,  they  were  pre- 
pared to  encounter  and  overcome.  Their  plan 
was,  after  entering  the  city,  to  seek  Caesar  and 
demand  their  discharge  from  his  service.  They 
knew  that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  im- 
mediately making  a  campaign  in  Africa,  and 
that,  of  course,  he  could  not  possibly,  as  they 
supposed,  dispense  with  them.  He  would,  con- 
sequently, if  they  asked  their  discharge,  beg 
them  to  remain,  and,  to  induce  them  to  do  it, 
would  comply  with  all  their  expectations  and 
desires. 

Such  was  their  plan.  To  tender,  however, 
a  resignation  of  an  office  as  a  means  of  bringing 
an  opposite  party  to  terms,  is  always  a  very 
hazardous  experiment.  We  easily  overrate  the 
estimation  in  which  our  own  services  are  held, 


218  Julius  CLesar.  [B.C. 47. 

The  army  marches  into  the  city.  .  The  Campus  Martius. 

taking  what  is  said  to  us  in  kindness  or  cour- 
tesy by  friends  as  the  sober  and  deliberate  judg- 
ment of  the  public ;  and  thus  it  often  happens 
that  persons  who  in  such  case  offer  to  resign, 
are  astonished  to  find  their  resignations  readily 
accepted. 

When  Caesar's  mutineers  arrived  at  the  gates, 
they  found,  instead  of  opposition,  only  orders 
from  Caesar,  by  which  they  were  directed  to 
leave  all  their  arms  except  their  swords,  and 
march  into  the  city.  They  obeyed.  They 
were  then  directed  to  go  to  the  Campus  Mar- 
tius, a  vast  parade  ground  situated  within  the 
walls,  and  to  await  Caesar's  orders  there.* 

Caesar  met  them  in  the  Campus  Martius, 
and  demanded  why  they  had  left  their  encamp- 
ment without  orders  and  come  to  the  city. 
They  stated  in  reply,  as  they  had  previously 
planned  to  do,  that  they  wished  to  be  discharged 
from  the  public  service.  To  their  great  aston- 
ishment, Caesar  seemed  to  consider  this  request 
as  nothing  at  all  extraordinary,  but  promised, 
on  the  other  hand,  very  readily  to  grant  it.  He 
said  that  they  should  be  at  once  discharged,  and 
should  receive  faithfully  all  the  rewards  which 
had  been  promised  them  at  the  close  of  the  war, 

*  See  map  of  the  city  of  Rome,  fronting  the  title-page. 


B.C. 47.]      Cesar  Imperator.  219 

Caesar's  address  to  the  army.  Its  effects. 

for  their  lonsr  and  arduous  services.  At  the 
same  time,  he  expressed  his  deep  regret  that, 
to  obtain  what  he  was  perfectly  willing  and 
ready  at  any  time  to  grant,  they  should  have 
so  far  forgotten  their  duties  as  Romans,  and 
violated  the  discipline  which  should  always  be 
held  absolutely  sacred  by  every  soldier.  He 
particularly  regretted  that  the  tenth  legion,  on 
which  he  had  been  long  accustomed  so  implicit- 
ly to  rely,  should  have  taken  a  part  in  such  trans- 
actions. 

In  making  this  address,  Csesar  assumed  a 
kind  and  considerate,  and  even  respectful  tone 
toward  his  men,  calling  them  Quirites  instead 
of  soldiers — an  honorary  mode  of  appellation, 
which  recognized  them  as  constituent  members 
of  the  Roman  commonwealth.  The  effect  of 
the  whole  transaction  was  what  might  have 
been  anticipated.  A  universal  feeling  was 
awakened  throughout  the  whole  army  to  return 
to  their  duty.  They  sent  deputations  to  Csesar, 
begging  not  to  be  taken  at  their  word,  but  to  be 
retained  in  the  service,  and  allowed  to  accom- 
pany him  to  Africa.  After  much  hesitation 
and  delay,  Csesar  consented  to  receive  them 
again,  all  excepting  the  tenth  legion,  who,  he 
said,  had  now  irrevocably  lost  his  confidence 


220  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C. 47. 

Attachment  of  Caesar's  soldiers.  Caesar  goes  to  Africa. 

and  regard.  It  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
strength  of  the  attachment  which  bound  Caesar's 
soldiers  to  their  commander,  that  the  tenth  le- 
gion would  not  be  discharged,  after  all.  They 
followed  Caesar  of  their  own  accord  into  Africa, 
earnestly  entreating  him  again  and  again  to  re- 
ceive them.  He  finally  did  receive  them  in  de- 
tachments, which  he  incorporated  with  the  rest 
of  his  army,  or  sent  on  distant  service,  but  he 
would  never  organize  them  as  the  tenth  legion 
again. 

It  was  now  early  in  the  winter,  a  stormy 
season  for  crossing  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
Caesar,  however,  set  off  from  Rome  immediate- 
ly, proceeded  south  to  Sicily,  and  encamped  on 
the  sea-shore  there  till  the  fleet  was  ready  to 
convey  his  forces  to  Africa.  The  usual  fortune 
attended  him  in  the  African  campaigns.  His 
fleet  was  exposed  to  imminent  dangers  in  cross- 
ing the  sea,  but,  in  consequence  of  the  extreme 
deliberation  and  skill  with  which  his  arrange- 
ments were  made,  he  escaped  them  all.  He 
overcame  one  after  another  of  the  military  dif- 
ficulties which  were  in  his  way  in  Africa.  His 
army  endured,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  great  ex- 
posures and  fatigues,  and  they  had  to  encounter 
a  great  hostile  force  under  the  charge  of  Cato. 


B.C. 47.]      Cesar   Imperator.  221 

Cato  shuts  himself  up  in  Africa.  He  stabs  himself. 

They  were,  however,  successful  in  every  under- 
taking. Cato  retreated  at  last  to  the  city  of 
Utica,  where  he  shut  himself  up  with  the  re- 
mains of  his  army;  but  finding,  at  length,  when 
Caesar  drew  near,  that  there  was  no  hope  or  pos- 
sibility of  making  good  his  defense,  and  as  his 
stern  and  indomitable  spirit  could  not  endure 
the  thought  of  submission  to  one  whom  he  con- 
sidered as  an  enemy  to  his  country  and  a  traitor, 
he  resolved  upon  a  very  effectual  mode  of  es- 
caping from  his  conqueror's  power. 

He  feigned  to  abandon  all  hope  of  defending 
the  city,  and  began  to  make  arrangements  to 
facilitate  the  escape  of  his  soldiers  over  the  sea. 
He  collected  the  vessels  in  the  harbor,  and  al- 
lowed all  to  embark  who  were  willing  to  take 
the  risks  of  the  stormy  water.  He  took,  appa- 
rently, great  interest  in  the  embarkations,  and, 
when  evening  came  on,  he  sent  repeatedly  down 
to  the  sea-side  to  inquire  about  the  state  of  the 
wind  and  the  progress  of  the  operations.  At 
length  he  retired  to  his  apartment,  and,  when 
all  was  quiet  in  the  house,  he  laid  down  upon 
his  bed  and  stabbed  himself  with  his  sword. 
He  fell  from  the  bed  by  the  blow,  or  else  from 
the  effect  of  some  convulsive  motion  which  the 
penetrating  steel  occasioned.     His  son  and  serv- 


222  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  47. 

Death  of  Cato.  Folly  of  his  suicide. 

ants,  hearing  the  fall,  came  rushing  into  the 
room,  raised  him  from  the  floor,  and  attempted 
to  bind  up  and  stanch  the  wound.  Cato  would 
not  permit  them  to  do  it.  He  resisted  them  vi- 
olently as  soon  as  he  was  conscious  of  what  they 
intended.  Finding  that  a  struggle  would  only 
aggravate  the  horrors  of  the  scene,  and  even 
hasten  its  termination,  they  left  the  bleeding 
hero  to  his  fate,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  died. 
The  character  of  Cato,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  his  suicide  was  committed,  makes 
it,  on  the  whole,  the  most  conspicuous  act  of 
suicide  which  history  records ;  and  the  events 
which  followed  show  in  an  equally  conspicuous 
manner  the  extreme  folly  of  the  deed.  In  re- 
spect to  its  wickedness,  Cato,  not  having  had  the 
light  of  Christianity  before  him,  is  to  be  lenient- 
ly judged.  As  to  the  folly  of  the  deed,  however, 
he  is  to  be  held  strictly  accountable.  If  he  had 
lived  and  yielded  to  his  conqueror,  as  he  might 
have  done  gracefully  and  without  dishonor, 
since  all  his  means  of  resistance  were  exhaust- 
ed, Caesar  would  have  treated  him  with  gen- 
erosity and  respect,  and  would  have  taken  him 
to  Rome ;  and  as  within  a  year  or  two  of  this 
time  Caesar  himself  was  no  more,  Cato's  vast 
influence  and  power  might  have  been,  and  un- 


B.C.  47.]       Cesar  Imperator.  223 

Caesar  in  Spain.  Defeat  of  Pompey's  sons. 

doubtedly  would  have  been,  called  most  effectu- 
ally into  action  for  the  benefit  of  his  country. 
If  any  one,  in  defending  Cato,  should  say  he 
could  not  foresee  this,  we  reply,  he  could  have 
foreseen  it ;  not  the  precise  events,  indeed,  which 
occurred,  but  he  could  have  foreseen  that  vast 
changes  must  take  place,  and  new  aspects  of 
affairs  arise,  in  which  his  powers  would  be  called 
into  requisition.  We  can  always  foresee  in  the 
midst  of  any  storm,  however  dark  and  gloomy, 
that  clear  skies  will  certainly  sooner  or  later 
come  again  ;  and  this  is  just  as  true  metaphori- 
cally in  respect  to  the  vicissitudes  of  human 
life,  as  it  is  literally  in  regard  to  the  ordinary 
phenomena  of  the  skies. 

From  Africa  Caesar  returned  to  Rome,  and 
from  Rome  he  went  to  subdue  the  resistance 
which  was  offered  by  the  sons  of  Pompey  in 
Spain.  He  was  equally  successful  here.  The 
oldest  son  was  wounded  in  battle,  and  was  car- 
ried off  from  the  field  upon  a  litter  faint  and 
almost  dying.  He  recovered  in  some  degree, 
and,  finding  escape  from  the  eager  pursuit  of 
Caesar's  soldiers  impossible,  he  concealed  him- 
self in  a  cave,  where  he  lingered  for  a  little 
time  in  destitution  and  misery.  He  was  dis- 
covered at  last ;    his  head  was  cut  off  by  his 


224  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.  47. 

Caesar's  triumphs.  The  triumphal  car  breaks  down. 

captors  and  sent  to  Caesar,  as  his  father's  had 
been.  The  younger  son  succeeded  in  escaping, 
but  he  became  a  wretched  fugitive  and  outlaw, 
and  all  manifestations  of  resistance  to  Caesar's 
sway  disappeared  from  Spain.  The  conqueror 
returned  to  Rome  the  undisputed  master  of  the 
whole  Roman  world. 

Then  came  his  triumphs.  Triumphs  were 
great  celebrations,  by  which  military  heroes  in 
the  days  of  the  Roman  commonwealth  signal- 
ized their  victories  on  their  return  to  the  city. 
Caesar's  triumphs  were  four,  one  for  each  of  his 
four  great  successful  campaigns,  viz.,  in  Egypt, 
in  Asia  Minor,  in  Africa,  and  in  Spain.  Each 
was  celebrated  on  a  separate  day,  and  there  was 
an  interval  of  several  days  between  them,  to 
magnify  their  importance,  and  swell  the  general 
interest  which  they  excited  among  the  vast 
population  of  the  city.  On  one  of  these  days, 
the  triumphal  car  in  which  Caesar  rode,  which 
was  most  magnificently  adorned,  broke  down  on 
the  way,  and  Caesar  was  nearly  thrown  out  of 
it  by  the  shock.  The  immense  train  of  cars, 
horses,  elephants,  flags,  banners,  captives,  and 
trophies  which  formed  the  splendid  procession 
was  all  stopped  by  the  accident,  and  a  consider- 
able delay  ensued.     Night  came  on,  in  fact, 


B.C.  47.]       CiESAR  Imperator.  227 

Elephant  torch -bearers.  Trophies  and  emblems. 

before  the  column  could  again  be  put  in  motion 
to  enter  the  city,  and  then  Qesar,  whose  genius 
was  never  more  strikingly  shown  than  when  he 
had  opportunity  to  turn  a  calamity  to  advant- 
age, conceived  the  idea  of  employing  the  forty 
elephants  of  the  train  as  torch-bearers  ;  the 
long  procession  accordingly  advanced  through 
the  streets  and  ascended  to  the  Capitol,  lighted 
by  the  great  blazing  flambeaus  which  the  sa- 
gacious and  docile  beasts  were  easily  taught  to 
bear,  each  elephant  holding  one  in  his  proboscis, 
and  waving  it  above  the  crowd  around  him. 

In  these  triumphal  processions,  every  thing 
was  borne  in  exhibition  which  could  serve  as  a 
symbol  of  the  conquered  country  or  a  trophy  of 
victory.  Flags  and  banners  taken  from  the 
enemy;  vessels  of  gold  and  silver,  and  other 
treasures,  loaded  in  vans ;  wretched  captives 
conveyed  in  open  carriages  or  marching  sor- 
rowfully on  foot,  and  destined,  some  of  them, 
to  public  execution  when  the  ceremony  of  the 
triumph  was  ended  ;  displays  of  arms,  and  im- 
plements, and  dresses,  and  all  else  which  might 
serve  to  give  the  Roman  crowd  an  idea  of  the 
customs  and  usages  of  the  remote  and  conquered 
nations;  the  animals  they  used,  caparisoned  in 
the  manner  in  which  they  used  them:  these, 


228  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 47. 

Banners  and  paintings.  Public  entertainmenis. 

and  a  thousand  other  trophies  and  emblems, 
were  brought  into  the  line  to  excite  the  admira- 
tion of  the  crowd,  and  to  add  to  the  gorgeous- 
ness  of  the  spectacle.  In  fact,  it  was  always  a 
great  object  of  solicitude  and  exertion  with  all 
the  Roman  generals,  when  on  distant  and  dan- 
gerous expeditions,  to  possess  themselves  of 
every  possible  prize  in  the  progress  of  their  cam- 
paign which  could  aid  in  adding  splendor  to  the 
triumph  which  was  to  signalize  its  end. 

In  these  triumphs  of  Csesar,  a  young  sister 
of  Cleopatra  was  in  the  line  of  the  Egyptian 
procession.  In  that  devoted  to  Asia  Minor  was 
a  great  banner  containing  the  words  already  re- 
ferred to,  Veni,  Vidi,  Vici.  There  were  great 
paintings,  too,  borne  aloft,  representing  battles 
and  other  striking  scenes.  Of  course,  all  Rome 
was  in  the  highest  state  of  excitement  during 
the  days  of  the  exhibition  of  this  pageantry. 
The  whole  surrounding  country  flocked  to  the 
capital  to  witness  it,  and  Caesar's  greatness  and 
glory  were  signalized  in  the  most  conspicuous 
manner  to  all  mankind. 

After  these  triumphs,  a  series  of  splendid 
public  entertainments  were  given,  over  twenty 
thousand  tables  having  been  spread  for  the  pop- 
ulace of  the  city.     Shows  of  every  possible  char- 


B.C. 47.]      Caesar  Imperator.  229 

Various  spectacles  and  amusements.  Naval  combats. 

acter  and  variety  were  exhibited.  There  were 
dramatic  plays,  and  equestrian  performances  in 
the  circus,  and  gladiatorial  combats,  and  battles 
with  wild  beasts,  and  dances,  and  chariot  races, 
and  every  other  imaginable  amusement  which 
could  be  devised  and  carried  into  effect  to  grat- 
ify a  population  highly  cultivated  in  all  the  arts 
of  life,  but  barbarous  and  cruel  in  heart  and  char- 
acter. Some  of  the  accounts  which  have  come 
down  to  us  of  the  magnificence  of  the  scale  on 
which  these  entertainments  were  conducted 
are  absolutely  incredible.  It  is  said,  for  ex- 
ample, that  an  immense  basin  was  constructed 
near  the  Tiber,  large  enough  to  contain  two 
fleets  of  galleys,  which  had  on  board  two  thou- 
sand rowers  each,  and  one  thousand  fighting 
men.  These  fleets  were  then  manned  with 
captives,  the  one  with  Asiatics  and  the  other 
with  Egyptians,  and  when  all  was  ready,  they 
were  compelled  to  fight  a  real  battle  for  the 
amusement  of  the  spectators  which  thronged 
the  shores,  until  vast  numbers  were  killed,  and 
the  waters  of  the  lake  were  dyed  with  blood. 
It  is  also  said  that  the  whole  Forum,  and  some 
of  the  great  streets  in  the  neighborhood  where 
the  principal  gladiatorial  shows  were  held,  were 
covered  with  silken  awnings  to  protect  the  vast 


230  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  47. 

CiBsar's  power.  Honors  conferred  upon  him. 

crowds  of  spectators  from  the  sun,  and  thou- 
sands of  tents  were  erected  to  accommodate  the 
people  from  the  surrounding  country,  whom  the 
buildings  of  the  city  could  not  contain. 

All  open  opposition  to  Caesar's  power  and  do- 
minion now  entirely  disappeared.  Even  the 
Senate  vied  with  the  people  in  rendering  him 
every  possible  honor.  The  supreme  power  had 
been  hitherto  lodged  in  the  hands  of  two  consuls, 
chosen  annually,  and  the  Roman  people  had 
been  extremely  jealous  of  any  distinction  for 
any  one  higher  than  that  of  an-  elective  annual 
office,  with  a  return  to  private  life  again  when 
the  brief  period  should  have  expired.  They  now, 
however,  made  Caesar,  in  the  first  place,  consul 
for  ten  years,  and  then  Perpetual  Dictator. 
They  conferred  upon  him  the  title  of  the  Father 
of  his  Country.  The  name  of  the  month  in 
which  he  was  born  was  changed  to  Julius,  from 
his  prsenomen,  and  we  still  retain  the  name.  He 
was  made,  also,  commander-in-chief  of  all  the 
armies  of  the  commonwealth,  the  title  to  which 
vast  military  power  was  expressed  in  the  Latin 
language  by  the  word  Ijviperator. 

Caesar  was  highly  elated  with  all  these  sub- 
stantial proofs  of  the  greatness  and  glory  to 
which  he  had  attained,  and  was  also  very  evi- 


B.C. 47.]      Cesar   Imperator.  231 

Statues  of  Csesar.  His  plans  of  internal  improvement. 

dently  gratified  with  smaller,  but  equally  ex- 
pressive proofs  of  the  general  regard.  Statues 
representing  his  person  were  placed  in  the  pub- 
lic edifices,  and  borne  in  processions  like  those 
of  the  gods.  Conspicuous  and  splendidly  orna- 
mented seats  were  constructed  for  him  in  all  the 
places  of  public  assembly,  and  on  these  he  sat 
to  listen  to  debates  or  witness  spectacles,  as  if 
he  were  upon  a  throne.  He  had,  either  by  his 
influence  or  by  his  direct  power,  the  control  of 
all  the  appointments  to  office,  and  was,  in  fact, 
in  every  thing  but  the  name,  a  sovereign  and  an 
absolute  king. 

He  began  now  to  form  great  schemes  of  in- 
ternal improvement  for  the  general  benefit  of 
the  empire.  He  wished  to  increase  still  more 
the  great  obligations  which  the  Roman  people 
were  under  to  him  for  what  he  had  already 
done.  They  really  were  under  vast  obligations 
to  him ;  for,  considering  Rome  as  a  community 
which  was  to  subsist  by  governing  the  world, 
Csesar  had  immensely  enlarged  the  means  of 
its  subsistence  by  establishing  its  sway  every 
where,  and  providing  for  an  incalculable  increase 
of  its  revenues  from  the  tribute  and  the  taxation 
of  conquered  provinces  and  kingdoms.  Since 
this  work  of  conquest  was  now  completed,  he 


232  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C.  47. 

Ancient  division  of  time.  Change  effected  by  Caesar. 

turned  his  attention  to  the  internal  affairs  of  the 
empire,  and  made  many  improvements  in  the 
system  of  administration,  looking  carefully  into 
every  thing,  and  introducing  every  where  those 
exact  and  systematic  principles  which  such  a 
mind  as  his  seeks  instinctively  in  every  thing 
over  which  it  has  any  control. 

One  great  change  which  he  effected  continues 
in  perfect  operation  throughout  Europe  to  the 
present  day.  It  related  to  the  division  of  time. 
The  system  of  months  in  use  in  his  day  corre- 
sponded so  imperfectly  with  the  annual  circuit 
of  the  sun,  that  the  months  were  moving  con- 
tinually along  the  year  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  winter  months  came  at  length  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  the  summer  months  in  the  winter. 
This  led  to  great  practical  inconveniences ;  for 
whenever,  for  example,  any  thing  was  required 
by  law  to  be  done  in  certain  months,  intending 
to  have  them  done  in  the  summer,  and  the 
specified  month  came  at  length  to  be  a  winter 
month,  the  law  would  require  the  thing  to  be 
done  in  exactly  the  wrong  season.  Caesar  reme- 
died all  this  by  adopting  a  new  system  of 
months,  which  should  give  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  days  to  the  year  for  three  years,  and 
three  hundred  and  sixty-six  for  the  fourth  ;  and 


B.C. 47.]      Cjssar  Imperator.  233 

The  old  and  new  styles.  Magnificent  schemes. 

so  exact  was  the  system  which  he  thus  intro- 
duced, that  it  went  on  unchanged  for  sixteen 
centuries.  The  months  were  then  found  to  be 
eleven  days  out  of  the  way,  when  a  new  cor- 
rection was  introduced, #  and  it  will  now  go 
on  three  thousand  years  before  the  error  will 
amount  to  a  single  day.  Caesar  employed  a 
Greek  astronomer  to  arrange  the  system  that 
he  adopted ;  and  it  was  in  part  on  account  of 
the  improvement  which  he  thus  effected  that 
one  of  the  months,  as  has  already  been  men- 
tioned, was  called  July.  Its  name  before  was 
Quintilis. 

Caesar  formed  a  great  many  other  vast  and 
magnificent  schemes.  He  planned  public  build- 
ings for  the  city,  which  were  going  to  exceed  in 
magnitude  and  splendor  all  the  edifices  of  the 
world.  He  commenced  the  collection  of  vast 
libraries,  formed  plans  for  draining  the  Pontine 
Marshes,  for  bringing  great  supplies  of  water 
into  the  city  by  an  aqueduct,  for  cutting  a  new 
passage  for  the  Tiber  from  Rome  to  the  sea, 
and  making  an  enormous  artificial  harbor  at  its 
mouth.  He  was  going  to  make  a  road  along 
the  Apennines,  and  cut  a  &anal  through  the 

*  By  Pope  Gregory  XIII.,  at  the  time  of  the  change  from 
the  old  style  to  the  new. 


234  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C.47. 

Caesar  collects  the  means  to  carry  out  his  vast  schemes. 

Isthmus  of  Corinth,  and  construct  other  vast 
works,  which  were  to  make  Rome  the  center  of 
the  commerce  of  the  world.  In  a  word,  his 
head  was  filled  with  the  grandest  schemes,  and 
he  was  gathering  around  him  all  the  means  and 
resources  necessary  for  the  execution  of  them. 


B.C. 44.]         The  Conspiracy. 


235 


Jealousies  awakened  by  Caesar's  power.  The  Roman  Constitution. 


Chapter   XL 
The  Conspiracy. 

CAESAR'S  greatness  and  glory  came  at  last 
to  a  very  sudden  and  violent  end.  He  was 
assassinated.  All  the  attendant  circumstances 
of  this  deed,  too,  were  of  the  most  extraordinary 
character,  and  thus  the  dramatic  interest  which 
adorns  all  parts  of  the  great  conqueror's  history 
marks  strikingly  its  end. 

His  prosperity  and  power  awakened,  of  course, 
a  secret  jealousy  and  ill  will.  Those  who  were 
disappointed  in  their  expectations  of  his  favor 
murmured.  Others,  who  had  once  been  his 
rivals,  hated  him  for  having  triumphed  over 
them.  Then  there  was  a  stern  spirit  of  democ- 
racy, too,  among  certain  classes  of  the  citizens 
of  Rome  which  could  not  brook  a  master.  It 
is  true  that  the  sovereign  power  in  the  Roman 
commonwealth  had  never  been  shared  by  all  the 
inhabitants.  It  was  only  in  certain  privileged 
classes  that  the  sovereignty  was  vested  ;  but 
among  these  the  functions  of  government  were 
divided  and  distributed  in  such  a  way  as  to 


236  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C. 44. 

Struggles  and  conflicts.  Roman  repugnance  to  royalty. 

balance  one  interest  against  another,  and  to  give 
all  their  proper  share  of  influence  and  authority. 
Terrible  struggles  and  conflicts  often  occurred 
among  these  various  sections  of  society,  as  one 
or  another  attempted  from  time  to  time  to  en- 
croach upon  the  rights  or  privileges  of  the  rest. 
These  struggles,  however,  ended  usually  in  at 
last  restoring  again  the  equilibrium  which  had 
been  disturbed.  No  one  power  could  ever  gain 
the  entire  ascendency ;  and  thus,  as  all  monarch- 
ism  seemed  excluded  from  their  system,  they 
called  it  a  republic.  Caesar,  however,  had  now 
concentrated  in  himself  all  the  principal  elements 
of  power,  and  there  began  to  be  suspicions  that 
he  wished  to  make  himself  in  name,  and  openly 
as  well  as  secretly  and  in  fact,  a  king. 

The  Romans  abhorred  the  very  name  of  king. 
They  had  had  kings  in  the  early  periods  of  their 
history,  but  they  made  themselves  odious  by 
their  pride  and  their  oppressions,  and  the  people 
had  deposed  and  expelled  them.  The  modern 
nations  of  Europe  have  several  times  performed 
the  same  exploit,  but  they  have  generally  felt 
unprotected  and  ill  at  ease  without  a  personal 
sovereign  over  them,  and  have  accordingly,  in 
most  cases,  after  a  few  years,  restored  some 
branch  of  the  expelled  dynasty  to  the  throne. 


B.C.  44.]        The  Conspiracy.  237 

Firmness  of  the  Romans.  Caesar's  ambitious  plans. 

The  Romans  were  more  persevering  and  firm. 
They  had  managed  their  empire  now  for  five 
hundred  years  as  a  republic,  and  though  they 
had  had  internal  dissensions,  conflicts,  and  quar- 
rels without  end,  had  persisted  so  firmly  and 
unanimously  in  their  detestation  of  all  regal 
authority,  that  no  one  of  the  long  line  of  ambi- 
tious and  powerful  statesmen,  generals,  or  con- 
querors by  which  the  history  of  the  empire  had 
been  signalized,  had  ever  dared  to  aspire  to  the 
name  of  king. 

There  began,  however,  soon  to  appear  some 
indications  that  Caesar,  who  certainly  now  pos- 
sessed regal  power,  would  like  the  regal  name. 
Ambitious  men,  in  such  cases,  do  not  directly 
assume  themselves  the  titles  and  symbols  of 
royalty.  Others  make  the  claim  for  them,  while 
they  faintly  disavow  it,  till  they  have  oppor- 
tunity to  see  what  effect  the  idea  produces  on 
the  public  mind.  The  following  incidents  oc- 
curred which  it  was  thought  indicated  such  a 
design. 

There  were  in  some  of  the  public  buildings 
certain  statues  of  kings  ;  for  it  must  be  under- 
stood that  the  Roman  dislike  to  kings  was  only 
a  dislike  to  having  kingly  authority  exercised 
over   themselves.      They  respected  and  some- 


238  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Regal  power.  American  feeling. 

times  admired  the  kings  of  other  countries,  and 
honored  their  exploits,  and  made  statues  to  com- 
memorate their  fame.  They  were  willing  that 
kings  should  reign  elsewhere,  so  long  as  there 
were  no  king  of  Rome.  The  American  feeling 
at  the  present  day  is  much  the  same.  If  the 
Queen  of  England  were  to  make  a  progress 
through  this  country,  she  would  receive,  per- 
haps, as  many  and  as  striking  marks  of  atten- 
tion and  honor  as  would  be  rendered  to  her  in 
her  own  realm.  We  venerate  the  antiquity  of 
her  royal  line ;  we  admire  the  efficiency  of  her 
government  and  the  sublime  grandeur  of  her 
empire,  and  have  as  high  an  idea  as  any  of  the 
powers  and  prerogatives  of  her  crown — and  these 
feelings  would  show  themselves  most  abund- 
antly  on  any  proper  occasion.  We  are  willing, 
nay,  wish  that  she  should  continue  to  reign  over 
Englishmen;  and  yet,  after  all,  it  would  take 
some  millions  of  bayonets  to  place  a  queen  se- 
curely upon  a  throne  over  this  land. 

Regal  power  was  accordingly,  in  the  ab- 
stract, looked  up  to  at  Rome,  as  it  is  elsewhere, 
with  great  respect ;  and  it  was,  in  fact,  all  the 
more  tempting  as  an  object  of  ambition,  from  the 
determination  felt  by  the  people  that  it  should 
not  be  exercised  there.     There  were,  according- 


B.C.  44]        The   Conspiracy.  239 

Caesar's  seat  in  the  theater.  Public  celebrations. 

ly,  statues  of  kings  at  Rome.  Caesar  placed 
his  own  statue  among  them.  Some  approved, 
others  murmured. 

There  was  a  public  theater  in  the  city,  where 
the  officers  of  the  government  were  accustom- 
ed to  sit  in  honorable  seats  prepared  expressly 
for  them,  those  of  the  Senate  being  higher 
and  more  distinguished  than  the  rest.  Caesar 
had  a  seat  prepared  for  himself  there,  sim- 
ilar in  form  to  a  throne,  and  adorned  it  mag- 
nificently with  gilding  and  ornaments  of  gold, 
which  gave  it  the  entire  pre-eminence  over  all 
the  other  seats. 

He  had  a  similar  throne  placed  in  the  senate 
chamber,  to  be  occupied  by  himself  when  at- 
tending there,  like  the  throne  of  the  King  of  En- 
gland in  the  House  of  Lords. 

He  held,  moreover,  a  great  many  public  cel- 
ebrations and  triumphs  in  the  city  in  commem- 
oration of  his  exploits  and  honors  ;  and,  on  one 
of  these  occasions,  it  was  arranged  that  the 
Senate  were  to  come  to  him  at  a  temple  in  a 
body,  and  announce  to  him  certain  decrees 
which  they  had  passed  to  his  honor.  Vast 
crowds  had  assembled  to  witness  the  ceremony. 
Caesar  was  seated  in  a  magnificent  chair,  which 
might  have  been  called  either  a  chair  or  a  throne, 


240  Julius   Caesar.  [B.C.  44. 

Caesar  receives  the  Senate  sitting.  Consequent  excitement. 

and  was  surrounded  by  officers  and  attendants. 
When  the  Senate  approached,  Caesar  did  not 
rise  to  receive  them,  but  remained  seated,  like 
a  monarch  receiving  a  deputation  of  his  sub- 
jects. The  incident  would  not  seem  to  be  in 
itself  of  any  great  importance,  but,  considered 
as  an  indication  of  Caesar's  designs,  it  attracted 
great  attention,  and  produced  a  very  general  ex- 
citement. The  act  was  adroitly  managed  so 
as  to  be  somewhat  equivocal  in  its  character,  in 
order  that  it  might  be  represented  one  way  or 
the  other  on  the  following  day,  according  as  the 
indications  of  public  sentiment  might  incline. 
Some  said  that  Caesar  was  intending  to  rise, 
but  was  prevented,  and  held  down  by  those  who 
stood  around  him.  Others  said  that  an  officer 
motioned  to  him  to  rise,  but  he  rebuked  his  in- 
terference by  a  frown,  and  continued  his  seat. 
Thus  while,  in  fact,  he  received  the  Roman 
Senate  as  their  monarch  and  sovereign,  his  own 
intentions  and  designs  in  so  doing  were  left 
somewhat  in  doubt,  in  order  to  avoid  awakening 
a  sudden  and  violent  opposition. 

Not  long  after  this,  as  he  was  returning  in 
public  from  some  great  festival,  the  streets  being 
full  of  crowds,  and  the  populace  following  him 
in  great  throngs  with  loud  acclamations,  a  man 


B.C.  44.]        The   Conspiracy.  241 

Csesar's  statue  crowned.  Caesar's  disavowals. 

went  up  to  his  statue  as  he  passed  it,  and 
placed  upon  the  head  of  it  a  laurel  crown,  fast- 
ened with  a  white  ribbon,  which  was  a  badge 
of  royalty.  Some  officers  ordered  the  ribbon 
to  be  taken  down,  and  sent  the  man  to  prison. 
Caesar  was  very  much  displeased  with  the  offi- 
cers, and  dismissed  them  from  their  office.  He 
wished,  he  said,  to  have  the  opportunity  to  dis- 
avow, himself,  such  claims,  and  not  to  have 
others  disavow  them  for  him. 

Caesar's  disavowals  were,  however,  so  faint, 
and  people  had  so  little  confidence  in  their  sin- 
cerity, that  the  cases  became  more  and  more 
frequent  in  which  the  titles  and  symbols  of  roy- 
alty were  connected  with  his  name.  The  people 
who  wished  to  gain  his  favor  sainted  him  in 
public  with  the  name  of  Rex,  the  Latin  word 
for  king.  He  replied  that  his  name  was  Caesar, 
not  Rex,  showing,  however,  no  other  signs  of 
displeasure.  On  one  great  occasion,  a  high  pub- 
lic officer,  a  near  relative  of  his,  repeatedly 
placed  a  diadem  upon  his  head,  Caesar  himself, 
as  often  as  he  did  it,  gently  putting  it  off.  At 
last  he  sent  the  diadem  away  to  a  temple  that 
was  near,  saying  that  there  was  no  king  in 
Rome  but  Jupiter.  In  a  word,  all  his  conduct 
indicated  that  he  wished  to  have  it  appear  that 

Q 


242  Julius   Cjssar.  [B.C. 44. 

Some  willing  to  make  Ctesar  king.  Others  oppose  it. 

the  people  were  pressing  the  crown  upon  him, 
when  he  himself  was  steadily  refusing  it. 

This  state  of  things  produced  a  very  strong 
and  universal,  though  suppressed  excitement  in 
the  city.  Parties  were  formed.  Some  began 
to  be  willing  to  make  Csesar  king  ;  others  were 
determined  to  hazard  their  lives  to  prevent  it. 
None  dared,  however,  openly  to  utter  their  sen- 
timents on  either  side.  They  expressed  them 
by  mysterious  looks  and  dark  intimations.  At 
the  time  when  Caesar  refused  to  rise  to  receive 
the  Senate,  many  of  the  members  withdrew  in 
silence,  and  with  looks  of  offended  dignity. 
When  the  crown  was  placed  upon  his  statue  or 
upon  his  own  brow,  a  portion  of  the  populace 
would  applaud  with  loud  acclamations ;  and 
whenever  he  disavowed  these  acts,  either  by 
words  or  counter-actions  of  his  own,  an  equally 
loud  acclamation  would  arise  from  the  other 
side.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  idea  that 
Caesar  was  gradually  advancing  toward  the 
kingdom  steadily  gained  ground. 

And  yet  Caesar  himself  spoke  frequently  with 
great  humility  in  respect  to  his  pretensions  and 
claims ;  and  when  he  found  public  sentiment 
turning  against  the  ambitious  schemes  he  seems 
secretly  to  have  cherished,  he  would  present 


B.C.44.]         The  Conspiracy.  243 

Caesar's  pretexts.  His  assumed  humility. 

some  excuse  or  explanation  for  his  conduct  plau- 
sible enough  to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  disa- 
vowal. When  he  received  the  Senate,  sitting 
like  a  king,  on  the  occasion  before  referred  to, 
when  they  read  to  him  the  decrees  which  they 
had  passed  in  his  favor,  he  replied  to  them  that 
there  was  more  need  of  diminishing  the  public 
honors  which  he  received  than  of  increasing: 
them.  When  he  found,  too,  how  much  excite- 
ment his  conduct  on  that  occasion  had  produced, 
he  explained  it  by  saying  that  he  had  retained 
his  sitting  posture  on  account  of  the  infirmity 
of  his  health,  as  it  made  him  dizzy  to  stand. 
He  thought,  probably,  that  these  pretexts  would 
tend  to  quiet  the  strong  and  turbulent  spirits 
around  him,  from  whose  envy  or  rivalry  he  had 
most  to  fear,  without  at  all  interfering  with  the 
effect  which  the  act  itself  would  have  produced 
upon  the  masses  of  the  population.  He  wished, 
in  a  word,  to  accustom  them  to  see  him  assume 
the  position  and  the  bearing  of  a  sovereign, 
while,  by  his  apparent  humility  in  his  inter- 
course with  those  immediately  around  him,  he 
avoided  as  much  as  possible  irritating  and 
arousing  the  jealous  and  watchful  rivals  who 
were  next  to  him  in  power. 

If  this  were  his  plan,  it  seemed  to  be  advanc- 


244  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Progress  of  Caesar's  plans.  The  Sibylline  books. 

ing  prosperously  toward  its  accomplishment. 
The  population  of  the  city  seemed  to  become 
more  and  more  familiar  with  the  idea  that  Caesar 
was  about  to  become  a  king.  The  opposition 
which  the  idea  had  at  first  awakened  appeared 
to  subside,  or,  at  least,  the  public  expression  of 
it,  which  daily  became  more  and  more  determ- 
ined and  dangerous,  was  restrained.  At  length 
the  time  arrived  when  it  appeared  safe  to  intro- 
duce the  subject  to  the  Roman  Senate.  This, 
of  course,  wTas  a  hazardous  experiment.  It  was 
managed,  however,  in  a  very  adroit  and  ingeni- 
ous manner. 

There  were  in  Rome,  and,  in  fact,  in  many 
other  cities  and  countries  of  the  world  in  those 
days,  a  variety  of  prophetic  books,  called  the 
Sibylline  Oracles,  in  which  it  was  generally  be- 
lieved that  future  events  were  foretold.  Some 
of  these  volumes  or  rolls,  which  were  very  an- 
cient and  of  great  authority,  were  preserved  in 
the  temples  at  Rome,  under  the  charge  of  a 
board  of  guardians,  who  were  to  keep  them  with 
the  utmost  care,  and  to  consult  them  on  great 
occasions,  in  order  to  discover  beforehand  what 
would  be  the  result  of  public  measures  or  great 
enterprises  which  were  in  contemplation.  It 
happened  that  at  this  time  the  Romans  were 


B.C.  44.]         The  Conspiracy.  245 

Declaration  of  the  Sibylline  books.  Plan  for  crowning  Cassar. 

engaged  in  a  war  with  the  Parthians,  a  very- 
wealthy  and  powerful  nation  of  Asia.  Csesar 
was  making  preparations  for  an  expedition  to 
the  East  to  attempt  to  subdue  this  people.  He 
gave  orders  that  the  Sibylline  Oracles  should 
be  consulted.  The  proper  officers,  after  con- 
sulting them  with  the  usual  solemn  ceremonies, 
reported  to  the  Senate  that  they  found  it  re- 
corded in  these  sacred  prophecies  that  the  Par- 
thians could  not  be  conquered  except  by  a  king. 
A  senator  proposed,  therefore,  that,  to  meet  the 
emergency,  Csesar  should  be  made  king  during 
the  war.  There  was  at  first  no  decisive  action 
on  this  proposal.  It  was  dangerous  to  express 
any  opinion.  People  were  thoughtful,  serious, 
and  silent,  as  on  the  eve  of  some  great  convul- 
sion. No  one  knew  what  others  were  meditat- 
ing, and  thus  did  not  dare  to  express  his  own 
wishes  or  designs.  There  soon,  however,  was 
a  prevailing  understanding  that  Csesar's  friends 
were  determined  on  executing  the  design  of 
crowning  him,  and  that  the  fifteenth  of  March, 
called,  in  their  phraseology,  the  Ides  of  March, 
was  fixed  upon  as  the  coronation  day. 

In  the  mean  time,  Caesar's  enemies,  though 
to  all  outward  appearance  quiet  and  calm,  had 
not  been  inactive.     Finding  that  his  plans  were 


246  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C.44. 

The  conspiracy.  Cassius.  Marcus  Brutus. 

now  ripe  for  execution,  and  that  they  had  no 
open  means  of  resisting  them,  they  formed  a 
conspiracy  to  assassinate  Caesar  himself,  and 
thus  bring  his  ambitious  schemes  to  an  effectual 
and  final  end.  The  name  of  the  original  leader 
of  this  conspiracy  was  Cassius. 

Cassius  had  been  for  a  long  time  Caesar's 
personal  rival  and  enemy.  He  was  a  man  of 
a  very  violent  and  ardent  temperament,  impet- 
uous and  fearless,  very  fond  of  exercising  power 
himself,  but  very  restless  and  uneasy  in  having 
it  exercised  over  him.  He  had  all  the  Roman 
repugnance  to  being  under  the  authority  of  a 
master,  with  an  additional  personal  determina- 
tion of  his  own  not  to  submit  to  Caesar.  He 
determined  to  slay  Caesar  rather  than  to  allow 
him  to  be  made  a  king,  and  he  went  to  work, 
with  great  caution,  to  bring  other  leading  and 
influential  men  to  join  him  in  this  determina- 
tion. Some  of  those  to  whom  he  applied  said 
that  they  would  unite  with  him  in  his  plot  pro- 
vided he  would  get  Marcus  Brutus  to  join  them. 

Brutus  was  the  praetor  of  the  city.  The 
praetorship  of  the  city  was  a  very  high  munici- 
pal office.  The  conspirators  wished  to  have 
Brutus  join  them  partly  on  account  of  his  sta- 
tion as  a  magistrate,  as  if  they  supposed  that 


B.C. 44.]        The   Conspiracy.  247 

Character  of  Brutus.  His  firmness  and  courage. 

by  having  the  highest  public  magistrate  of  the 
city  for  their  leader  in  the  deed,  the  destruction 
of  their  victim  would  appear  less  like  a  murder, 
and  would  be  invested,  instead,  in  some  re- 
spects, with  the  sanctions  and  with  the  dignity 
of  an  official  execution. 

Then,  again,  they  wished  for  the  moral  sup- 
port which  would  be  afforded  them  in  their  des- 
perate enterprise  by  Brutus's  extraordinary  per- 
sonal character.  He  was  younger  than  Cas- 
sius,  but  he  was  grave,  thoughtful,  taciturn, 
calm — a  man  of  inflexible  integrity,  of  the  cool- 
est determination,  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  the 
most  undaunted  courage.  The  conspirators  dis- 
trusted one  another,  for  the  resolution  of  im- 
petuous men  is  very  apt  to  fail  when  the  emer- 
gency arrives  which  puts  it  to  the  test ;  but  as 
for  Brutus,  they  knew  very  well  that  whatever 
he  undertook  he  would  most  certainly  do. 

There  was  a  great  deal  even,  in  his  name.  It 
was  a  Brutus  that  five  centuries  before  had  been 
the  main  instrument  of  the  expulsion  of  the  Ro- 
man kings.  He  had  secretly  meditated  the  de- 
sign, and,  the  better  to  conceal  it,  had  feigned 
idiocy,  as  the  story  was,  that  he  might  not  be 
watched  or  suspected  until  the  favorable  hour 
for  executing  his  design   should   arrive.      He 


248  Julius   Cm&ar.  [B.C.  44. 

The  ancient  Brutus.  His  expulsion  of  the  kings. 

therefore  ceased  to  speak,  and  seemed  to  lose 
his  reason ;  he  wandered  about  the  city  silent 
and  gloomy,  like  a  brute.  His  name  had  been 
Lucius  Junius  before.  They  added  Brutus 
now,  to  designate  his  condition.  When  at  last, 
however,  the  crisis  arrived  which  he  judged  fa- 
vorable for  the  expulsion  of  the  kings,  he  sud- 
denly reassumed  his  speech  and  his  reason, 
called  the  astonished  Romans  to  arms,  and  tri- 
umphantly accomplished  his  design.  His  name 
and  memory  had  been  cherished  ever  since  that 
day  as  of  a  great  deliverer. 

They,  therefore,  who  looked  upon  Caesar  as 
another  king,  naturally  turned  their  thoughts  to 
the  Brutus  of  their  day,  hoping  to  find  in  him 
another  deliverer.  Brutus  found,  from  time  to 
time,  inscriptions  on  his  ancient  namesake's 
statue  expressing  the  wish  that  he  were  now 
alive.  He  also  found  each  morning,  as  he  came 
to  the  tribunal  where  he  was  accustomed  to  sit 
in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  brief 
writings,  which  had  been  left  there  during  the 
night,  in  which  few  words  expressed  deep  mean- 
ing, such  as,  "Awake,  Brutus,  to  thy  duty ;" 
and  "  Art  thou  indeed  a  Brutus  ?" 

Still  it  seemed  hardly  probable  that  Brutus 
could  be  led  to  take  a  decided  stand  against 


B.C. 44.]        The   Conspiracy.  249 

The  history  of  Brutus.  His  obligations  to  Caesar. 

Caesar,  for  they  had  been  warm  personal  friends 
ever  since  the  conclusion  of  the  civil  wars.  Bru- 
tus had,  indeed,  been  on  Pompey's  side  while 
that  general  lived ;  he  fought  with  him  at  the 
battle  of  Pharsalia,  but  he  had  been  taken  pris- 
oner there,  and  Caesar,  instead  of  executing  him 
as  a  traitor,  as  most  victorious  genferals  in  a 
civil  war  would  have  done,  spared  his  life,  for- 
gave him  for  his  hostility,  received  him  into  his 
own  service,  and  afterward  raised  him  to  very 
high  and  honorable  stations.  He  gave  him  the 
government  of  the  richest  province,  and,  after 
his  return  from  it,  loaded  with  wealth  and  hon- 
ors, he  made  him  praetor  of  the  city.  In  a  word, 
it  would  seem  that  he  had  done  every  thing 
which  it  was  possible  to  do  to  make  him  one  of 
his  most  trustworthy  and  devoted  friends.  The 
men,  therefore,  to  whom  Cassius  first  applied, 
perhaps  thought  that  they  were  very  safe  in 
saying  that  they  would  unite  in  the  intended 
conspiracy  if  he  would  get  Brutus  to  join  them. 
They  expected  Cassius  himself  to  make  the 
attempt  to  secure  the  co-operation  of  Brutus,  as 
Cassius  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  him  on 
account  of  a  family  connection.  Cassius's  wife 
was  the  sister  of  Brutus.  This  had  made  the 
two  men  intimate  associates  and  warm  friends 


250  Julius  C^sar.  [B.C. 44. 

Caesar's  friendship  for  Brutus.       Interview  between  Brutus  and  Caesar. 

in  former  years,  though  they  had  been  recently 
somewhat  estranged  from  each  other  on  account 
of  having  been  competitors  for  the  same  offices 
and  honors.  In  these  contests  Caesar  had  de- 
cided in  favor  of  Brutus.  "  Cassius,"  said  he, 
on  one  such  occasion,  "  gives  the  best  reasons ; 
but  I  can  not  refuse  Brutus  any  thing  he  asks 
for."  In  fact,  Caesar  had  conceived  a  strong 
personal  friendship  for  Brutus,  and  believed  him 
to  be  entirely  devoted  to  his  cause. 

Cassius,  however,  sought  an  interview  with 
Brutus,  with  a  view  of  en^asrino-  him  in  his  de- 
sign.  He  easily  effected  his  own  reconciliation 
with  him,  as  he  had  himself  been  the  offended 
party  in  their  estrangement  from  each  other. 
He  asked  Brutus  whether  he  intended  to  be 
present  in  the  Senate  on  the  Ides  of  March, 
when  the  friends  of  Caesar,  as  was  understood, 
were  intending  to  present  him  with  the  crown. 
Brutus  said  he  should  not  be  there.  "  But  sup- 
pose," said  Cassius,  "  we  are  specially  sum- 
moned." "Then,"  said  Brutus,  "I  shall  go, 
and  shall  be  ready  to  die  if  necessary  to  defend 
the  liberty  of  my  country." 

Cassius  then  assured  Brutus  that  there  were 
many  other  Roman  citizens,  of  the  highest  rank, 
who  were  animated  by  the  same  determination, 


B.C.  44.]        The   Conspiracy.  251 

Arguments  of  Cassius.  Effect  on  Brutus. 

and  that  they  all  looked  up  to  him  to  lead  and 
direct  them  in  the  work  which  it  was  now  very 
evident  must  be  done.  "  Men  look,"  said  Cas- 
sius, "  to  other  praetors  to  entertain  them  with 
games,  spectacles,  and  shows,  but  they  have 
very  different  ideas  in  respect  to  you.  Your 
character,  your  name,  your  position,  your  an- 
cestry, and  the  course  of  conduct  which  you 
have  already  always  pursued,  inspire  the  whole 
city  with  the  hope  that  you  are  to  be  their  de- 
liverer. The  citizens  are  all  ready  to  aid  you, 
and  to  sustain  you  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives ; 
but  they  look  to  you  to  go  forward,  and  to  act 
in  their  name  and  in  their  behalf,  in  the  crisis 
which  is  now  approaching." 

Men  of  a  very  calm  exterior  are  often  sus- 
ceptible of  the  profoundest  agitations  within, 
the  emotions  seeming  to  be  sometimes  all  the 
more  permanent  and  uncontrollable  from  the 
absence  of  outward  display.  Brutus  said  little, 
but  his  soul  was  excited  and  fired  by  Cassius's 
words.  There  was  a  struggle  in  his  soul  be- 
tween his  grateful  sense  of  his  political  obliga- 
tions to  Caesar  and  his  personal  attachment  to 
him  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other,  a  cer- 
tain stern  Roman  conviction  that  every  thing 
should  be  sacrificed,  even  friendship  and  grati- 


252                              J  LLIUS     C  .ESAR. 

[B.C.  44. 

Brutus  engages  in  the  conspiracy. 

Ligurius. 

tude,  as  well  as  fortune  and  life,  to  the  welfare 
of  his  country.  He  acceded  to  the  plan,  and 
began  forthwith  to  enter  upon  the  necessary 
measures  for  putting  it  into  execution. 

There  was  a  certain  general,  named  Ligu- 
rius,  who  had  been  in  Pompey's  army,  and 
whose  hostility  to  Caesar  had  never  been  really 
subdued.  He  was  now  sick.  Brutus  went  to 
see  him.  He  found  him  in  his  bed.  The  ex- 
citement in  Rome  was  so  intense,  though  the 
expressions  of  it  were  suppressed  and  restrained, 
that  every  one  was  expecting  continually  some 
great  event,  and  every  motion  and  look  was  in- 
terpreted to  have  some  deep  meaning.  Ligu- 
rius  read  in  the  countenance  of  Brutus,  as  he 
approached  his  bedside,  that  he  had  not  come  on 
any  trifling  errand.  "  Ligurius,"  said  Brutus, 
"this  is  not  a  time  for  you  to  be  sick."  "Bru- 
tus," replied  Ligurius,  rising  at  once  from  his 
couch,  "  if  you  have  any  enterprise  in  mind  that 
is  worthy  of  you,  I  am  well."  Brutus  explained 
to  the  sick  man  their  design,  and  he  entered  into 
it  with  ardor. 

The  plan  was  divulged  to  one  after  another 
of  such  men  as  the  conspirators  supposed  most 
worthy  of  confidence  in  such  a  desperate  under- 
taking, and  meetings  for  consultation  were  held 


B.C.  44]         The  Conspiracy.  253 

Consultations  of  the  conspirators.  Their  bold  plan. 

to  determine  what  plan  to  adopt  for  finally  ac- 
complishing their  end.  It  was  agreed  that 
Caesar  must  be  slain  ;  but  the  time,  the  place, 
and  the  manner  in  which  the  deed  should  be 
performed  were  all  yet  undecided.  Various 
plans  were  proposed  in  the  consultations  which 
the  conspirators  held ;  but  there  was  one  thing 
peculiar  to  them  all,  which  was,  that  they  did 
not  any  of  them  contemplate  or  provide  for  any 
thing  like  secrecy  in  the  commission  of  the 
deed.  It  was  to  be  performed  in  the  most  open 
and  public  manner.  With  a  stern  and  un- 
daunted boldness,  which  has  always  been  con- 
sidered by  mankind  as  truly  sublime,  they  de- 
termined that,  in  respect  to  the  actual  execution 
itself  of  the  solemn  judgment  which  they  had 
pronounced,  there  should  be  nothing  private  or 
concealed.  They  thought  over  the  various  pub- 
lic situations  in  which  they  might  find  Caesar, 
and  where  they  might  strike  him  down,  only  to 
select  the  one  which  would  be  most  public  of 
all.  They  kept,  of  course,  their  preliminary 
counsels  private,  to  prevent  the  adoption  of 
measures  for  counteracting  them  ;  but  they 
were  to  perform  the  deed  in  such  a  manner  as 
that,  so  soon  as  it  was  performed,  they  should 
stand  out  to  view,  exposed  fully  to  the  gaze  of 


254  Julius  Caesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Final  arrangements.  The  place  and  the  day. 

all  mankind  as  the  authors  of  it.  They  plan- 
ned no  retreat,  no  concealment,  no  protection 
whatever  for  themselves,  seeming  to  feel  that 
the  deed  which  they  were  about  to  perform,  of 
destroying  the  master  and  monarch  of  the  world, 
was  a  deed  in  its  own  nature  so  grand  and  sub- 
lime as  to  raise  the  perpetrators  of  it  entirely 
above  all  considerations  relating  to  their  own 
personal  safety.  Their  plan,  therefore,  was  to 
keep  their  consultations  and  arrangements  se- 
cret until  they  were  prepared  to  strike  the  blow, 
then  to  strike  it  in  the  most  public  and  impos- 
ing manner  possible,  and  calmly  afterward  to 
await  the  consequences. 

In  this  view  of  the  subject,  they  decided  that 
the  chamber  of  the  Roman  Senate  was  the  prop- 
er place,  and  the  Ides  of  March,  the  day  on  which 
he  was  appointed  to  be  crowned,  was  the  proper 
time  for  Csesar  to  be  slain. 


B.C.  44.]      The  Assassination.  255 

Caesar  receives  many  warnings  of  his  approaching  fate. 


Chapter  XII. 

The  Assassination. 

A  CCORDING  to  the  account  given  by  his 
-£\-  historians,  Csesar  received  many  warn- 
ings of  his  approaching  fate,  which,  however,  he 
would  not  heed.  Many  of  these  warnings  were 
strange  portents  and  prodigies,  which  the  philo- 
sophical writers  who  recorded  them  half  believed 
themselves,  and  which  they  were  always  ready 
to  add  to  their  narratives  even  if  they  did  not 
believe  them,  on  account  of  the  great  influence 
which  such  an  introduction  of  the  supernatural 
and  the  divine  had  with  readers  in  those  days  in 
enhancing  the  dignity  and  the  dramatic  interest 
of  the  story.  These  warnings  were  as  follows : 
At  Capua,  which  was  a  great  city  at  some 
distance  south  of  Rome,  the  second,  in  fact,  in 
Italy,  and  the  one  which  Hannibal  had  proposed 
to  make  his  capital,  some  workmen  were  re- 
moving certain  ancient  sepulchers  to  make  room 
for  the  foundations  of  a  splendid  edifice  which, 
among  his  other  plans  for  the  embellishment  of 
the  cities  of  Italy,  Caesar  was  intending  to  have 


256  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  44. 

The  tomb  and  inscription.  Caesar's  horses. 

erected  there.  As  the  excavations  advanced, 
the  workmen  came  at  last  to  an  ancient  tomb, 
which  proved  to  be  that  of  the  original  founder 
of  Capua ;  and,  in  bringing  out  the  sarcophagus, 
they  found  an  inscription,  worked  upon  a  brass 
plate,  and  in  the  Greek  character,  predicting 
that  if  those  remains  were  ever  disturbed,  a 
great  member  of  the  Julian  family  would  be 
assassinated  by  his  own  friends,  and  his  death 
would  be  followed  by  extended  devastations 
throughout  all  Italy. 

The  horses,  too,  with  which  Caesar  had  passed 
the  Rubicon,  and  which  had  been,  ever  since 
that  time,  living  in  honorable  retirement  in  a 
splendid  park  which  Ceesar  had  provided  for 
them,  by  some  mysterious  instinct,  or  from 
some  divine  communication,  had  warning  of  the 
approach  of  their  great  benefactor's  end.  They 
refused  their  food,  and  walked  about  with  melan- 
choly and  dejected  looks,  mourning  apparently, 
and  in  a  manner  almost  human,  some  impend- 
ing grief. 

There  was  a  class  of  prophets  in  those  days 
called  by  a  name  which  has  been  translated 
soothsayers.  These  soothsayers  were  able,  as 
was  supposed,  to  look  somewhat  into  futurity — 
dimly  and  doubtfully,  it  is  true,  but  really,  by 


B.C. 44.]      The  Assassination.  257 

The  soothsayers.  The  hawks  and  the  wren. 

means  of  certain  appearances  exhibited  by  the 
bodies  of  the  animals  offered  in  sacrifices. 
These  soothsayers  were  consulted  on  all  im- 
portant occasions ;  and  if  the  auspices  proved 
unfavorable  when  any  great  enterprise  was 
about  to  be  undertaken,  it  was  often,  on  that 
account,  abandoned  or  postponed.  One  of  these 
soothsayers,  named  Spurinna,  came  to  Caesar 
one  day,  and  informed  him  that  he  had  found, 
by  means  of  a  public  sacrifice  which  he  had  just 
been  offering,  that  there  was  a  great  and  mys- 
terious danger  impending  over  him,  which  was 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  Ides  of  March, 
and  he  counseled  him  to  be  particularly  cautious 
and  circumspect  until  that  day  should  have 
passed. 

The  Senate  were  to  meet  on  the  Ides  of 
March  in  a  new  and  splendid  edifice,  which  had 
been  erected  for  their  use  by  Pompey.  There 
was  in  the  interior  of  the  building,  among  other 
decorations,  a  statue  of  Pompey.  The  day  be- 
fore the  Ides  of  March,  some  birds  of  prey  from 
a  neighboring  grove  came  flying  into  this  hall, 
pursuing  a  little  wren  with  a  sprig  of  laurel  in 
its  mouth.  The  birds  tore  the  wren  to  pieces, 
the  laurel  dropping  from  its  bill  to  the  marble 
pavement  of  the  floor  below.  Now,  as  Caesar 
E 


258  Julius   C^sar.  [B.C.  44. 

Caesar's  agitation  of  mind.  His  dream. 

had  been  always  accustomed  to  wear  a  crown 
of  laurel  on  great  occasions,  and  had  always 
evinced  a  particular  fondness  for  that  decoration, 
the  laurel  had  come  to  be  considered  his  own 
proper  badge,  and  the  fall  of  the  laurel,  there- 
fore, was  naturally  thought  to  portend  some 
great  calamity  to  him. 

The  night  before  the  Ides  of  March  Csesar 
could  not  sleep.  It  would  not  seem,  however, 
to  be  necessary  to  suppose  any  thing  super- 
natural to  account  for  his  wakefulness.  He  lay 
upon  his  bed  restless  and  excited,  or  if  he  fell 
into  a  momentary  slumber,  his  thoughts,  in- 
stead of  finding  repose,  were  only  plunged  into 
greater  agitations,  produced  by  strange,  and,  as 
he  thought,  supernatural  dreams.  He  imagined 
that  he  ascended  into  the  skies,  and  was  received 
there  by  Jupiter,  the  supreme  divinity,  as  an 
associate  and  equal.  While  shaking  hands  with 
the  great  father  of  gods  and  men,  the  sleeper 
was  startled  by  a  frightful  sound.  He  awoke, 
and  found  his  wife  Calpurnia  groaning  and 
struggling  in  her  sleep.  He  saw  her  by  the 
moonlight  which  was  shining  into  the  room. 
He  spoke  to  her,  and  aroused  her.  After  staring 
wildly  for  a  moment  till  she  had  recovered  her 
thoughts,  she  said  that  she  had  had  a  dreadful 


B.C.  44.]      The   Assassination.  259 


Calpumia's  dream.  The  effect  of  a  disturbed  mind. 

dream.  She  had  dreamed  that  the  roof  of  the 
house  had  fallen  in,  and  that,  at  the  same  in- 
stant, the  doors  had  been  burst  open,  and  some 
robber  or  assassin  had  stabbed  her  husband  as 
he  was  lying  in  her  arms.  The  philosophy  of 
those  days  found  in  these  dreams  mysterious 
and  preternatural  warnings  of  impending  dan- 
ger;  that  of  ours,  however,  sees  nothing  ei- 
ther in  the  absurd  sacrilegiousness  of  Caesar's 
thoughts,  or  his  wife's  incoherent  and  incon- 
sistent images  of  terror  —  nothing  more  than 
the  natural  and  proper  effects,  on  the  one  hand, 
of  the  insatiable  ambition  of  man,  and,  on  the 
other,  of  the  conjugal  affection  and  solicitude 
of  woman.  The  ancient  sculptors  carved  out 
images  of  men,  by  the  forms  and  lineaments  of 
which  we  see  that  the  physical  characteristics 
of  humanity  have  not  changed.  History  seems 
to  do  the  same  with  the  affections  and  passions 
of  the  soul.  The  dreams  of  Caesar  and  his  wife 
on  the  night  before  the  Ides  of  March,  as  thus 
recorded,  form  a  sort  of  spiritual  statue,  which 
remains  from  generation  to  generation,  to  show 
us  how  precisely  all  the  inward  workings  of  hu- 
man nature  are  from  age  to  age  the  same. 

When  the  morning  came  Caesar  and  Calpur- 
nia  arose,  both  restless  and  ill  at  ease.     Caesar 


260  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C.  44. 

Ceesar  hesitates.  Decimus  Brutus. 

ordered  the  auspices  to  be  consulted  with  refer- 
ence to  the  intended  proceedings  of  the  day. 
The  soothsayers  came  in  in  due  time,  and  re- 
ported that  the  result  was  unfavorable.  Cal- 
purnia,  too,  earnestly  entreated  her  husband  not 
to  go  to  the  senate-house  that  day.  She  had 
a  very  strong  presentiment  that,  if  he  did  go, 
some  great  calamity  would  ensue.  Caesar  him- 
self hesitated.  He  was  half  inclined  to  yield, 
and  postpone  his  coronation  to  another  occasion. 

In  the  course  of  the  day,  while  Caesar  was  in 
this  state  of  doubt  and  uncertainty,  one  of  the 
conspirators,  named  Decimus  Brutus,  came  in. 
This  Brutus  was  not  a  man  of  any  extraordi- 
nary courage  or  energy,  but  he  had  been  invited 
by  the  other  conspirators  to  join  them,  on  ac- 
count of  his  having  under  his  charge  a  large 
number  of  gladiators,  who,  being  desperate  and 
reckless  men,  would  constitute  a  very  suitable 
armed  force  for  them  to  call  in  to  their  aid  in 
case  of  any  emergency  arising  which  should  re- 
quire it. 

The  conspirators  having  thus  all  their  plans 
arranged,  Decimus  Brutus  was  commissioned 
to  call  at  Caesar's  house  when  the  time  ap- 
proached for  the  assembling  of  the  Senate,  both 
to  avert  suspicion  from  Caesar's  mind,  and  to 


B.C. 44.]      The  Assassination.  261 

Decimus  Brutus  waits  upon  Caesar.  He  persuades  him  to  go. 

assure  himself  that  nothing  had  been  discovered. 
It  was  in  the  afternoon,  the  time  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  senators  having  been  fixed  at  five 
o'clock.  Decimus  Brutus  found  Csesar  troubled 
and  perplexed,  and  uncertain  what  to  do.  After 
hearing  what  he  had  to  say,  he  replied  by  urg- 
ing him  to  go  by  all  means  to  the  senate-house, 
as  he  had  intended.  "  You  have  formally  called 
the  Senate  together,"  said  he,  "  and  they  are 
now  assembling.  They  are  all  prepared  to  con- 
fer upon  you  the  rank  and  title  of  king,  not  only 
in  Parthia,  while  you  are  conducting  this  war, 
but  every  where,  by  sea  and  land,  except  in 
Italy.  And  now,  while  they  are  all  in  their 
places,  waiting  to  consummate  the  great  act, 
how  absurd  will  it  be  for  you  to  send  them  word 
to  go  home  again,  and  come  back  some  other 
day,  when  Calpurnia  shall  have  had  better 
dreams !" 

He  urged,  too,  that,  even  if  Csesar  was  de- 
termined to  put  off  the  action  of  the  Senate  to 
another  day,  he  was  imperiously  bound  to  go 
himself  and  adjourn  the  session  in  person.  So 
saying,  he  took  the  hesitating  potentate  by  the 
arm,  and  adding  to  his  arguments  a  little  gen- 
tle force,  conducted  him  along. 

The  conspirators  supposed  that  all  was  safe. 


262  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Artemidorus  discovers  the  plot.  He  warns  Caesar. 

The  fact  was,  however,  that  all  had  been  dis- 
covered. There  was  a  certain  Greek,  a  teacher 
of  oratory,  named  Artemidorus.  He  had  con- 
trived to  learn  something  of  the  plot  from  some 
of  the  conspirators  who  were  his  pupils.  He 
wrote  a  brief  statement  of  the  leading  particu- 
lars, and,  having  no  other  mode  of  access  to 
Csesar,  he  determined  to  hand  it  to  him  on  the 
way  as  he  went  to  the  senate-house.  Of  course, 
the  occasion  was  one  of  great  public  interest, 
and  crowds  had  assembled  in  the  streets  to  see 
the  great  conqueror  as  he  went  along.  As 
usual  at  such  times,  when  powerful  officers  of 
state  appear  in  public,  many  people  came  up 
to  present  petitions  to  him  as  he  passed.  These 
he  received,  and  handed  them,  without  reading, 
to  his  secretary  who  attended  him,  as  if  to  have 
them  preserved  for  future  examination.  Ar- 
temidorus, who  was  waiting  for  his  opportunity, 
when  he  perceived  what  disposition  Csesar  made 
of  the  papers  which  were  given  to  him,  began 
to  be  afraid  that  his  own  communication  would 
not  be  attended  to  until  it  was  too  late.  He 
accordingly  pressed  up  near  to  Csesar,  refusing 
to  allow  any  one  else  to  pass  the  paper  in  ;  and 
when,  at  last,  he  obtained  an  opportunity,  he 
gave  it  directly  into  Caesar's  hands,  saying  to 


B.C.44.]     The   Assassination.  263 

Csesar  and  Spurinna.  Caesar  arrives  at  the  senate-house. 

him,  "  Read  this  immediately :  it  concerns  your- 
self, and  is  of  the  utmost  importance." 

Csesar  took  the  paper  and  attempted  to  read 
it,  but  new  petitions  and  other  interruptions 
constantly  prevented  him ;  finally  he  gave  up 
the  attempt,  and  went  on  his  way,  receiving  and 
passing  to  his  secretary  all  other  papers,  but  re- 
taining this  paper  of  Artemidorus  in  his  hand. 

Caesar  passed  Spurinna  on  his  way  to  the 
senate-house — the  soothsayer  who  had  predict- 
ed some  great  danger  connected  with  the  Ides 
of  March.  As  soon  as  he  recognized  him,  he 
accosted  him  with  the  words,  "  Well,  Spurinna, 
the  Ides  of  March  have  come,  and  I  am  safe." 
"Yes,"  replied  Spurinna,  "they  have  come,  but 
they  are  not  yet  over." 

At  length  he  arrived  at  the  senate-house,  with 
the  paper  of  Artemidorus  still  unread  in  his 
hand.  The  senators  were  all  convened,  the 
leading  conspirators  among  them.  They  all 
rose  to  receive  Caesar  as  he  entered.  Caesar 
advanced  to  the  seat  provided  for  him,  and,  when 
he  was  seated,  the  senators  themselves  sat  down. 
The  moment  had  now  arrived,  and  the  conspir- 
ators, with  pale  looks  and  beating  hearts,  felt 
that  now  or  never  the  deed  was  to  be  done. 

It  requires  a  very  considerable  degree  of  phys- 


264  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Resolution  of  the  Conspirators.  Caesar  and  Pompey'e  statue. 

ical  courage  and  hardihood  for  men  to  come  to 
a  calm  and  deliberate  decision  that  they  will 
kill  one  whom  they  hate,  and,  still  more,  actu- 
ally to  strike  the  blow,  even  when  under  the 
immediate  impulse  of  passion.  But  men  who 
are  perfectly  capable  of  either  of  these  often  find 
their  resolution  fail  them  as  the  time  comes  for 
striking  a  dasher  into  the  living  flesh  of  their 
victim,  when  he  sits  at  ease  and  unconcerned 
before  them,  unarmed  and  defenseless,  and  doing 
nothing  to  excite  those  feelings  of  irritation  and 
anger  which  are  generally  found  so  necessary  to 
nerve  the  human  arm  to  such  deeds.  Utter  de- 
fenselessness  is  accordingly,  sometimes,  a  great- 
er protection  than  an  armor  of  steel. 

Even  Cassius  himself,  the  originator  and  the 
soul  of  the  whole  enterprise,  found  his  courage 
hardly  adequate  to  the  work  now  that  the  mo- 
ment had  arrived  ;  and,  in  order  to  arouse  the 
necessary  excitement  in  his  soul,  he  looked  up 
to  the  statue  of  Pompey,  Caesar's  ancient  and 
most  formidable  enemy,  and  invoked  its  aid. 
It  gave  him  its  aid.  It  inspired  him  with  some 
portion  of  the  enmity  with  which  the  soul  of 
its  great  original  had  burned ;  and  thus  the  soul 
of  the  living  assassin  was  nerved  to  its  work  by 
a  sort  of  sympathy  with  a  block  of  stone. 


B.C. 44.]     The   Assassination.  265 

Plan  of  the  conspirators.  Marc  Antony. 

Foreseeing  the  necessity  of  something  like  a 
stimulus  to  action  when  the  immediate  moment 
for  action  should  arrive,  the  conspirators  had 
agreed  that,  as  soon  as  Caesar  was  seated,  they 
would  approach  him  with  a  petition,  which  he 
would  probably  refuse,  and  then,  gathering 
around  him,  they  would  urge  him  with  their 
importunities,  so  as  to  produce,  in  the  confusion, 
a  sort  of  excitement  that  would  make  it  easier 
for  them  to  strike  the  blow. 

There  was  one  person,  a  relative  and  friend  of 
Caesar's,  named  Marcus  Antonius,  called  com- 
monly, however,  in  English  narratives,  Marc 
Antony,  the  same  who  has  been  already  men- 
tioned as  having  been  subsequently  connected 
with  Cleopatra.  He  was  a  very  energetic  and 
determined  man,  who,  they  thought,  might  pos- 
sibly attempt  to  defend  him.  To  prevent  this, 
one  of  the  conspirators  had  been  designated  to 
take  him  aside,  and  occupy  his  attention  with 
some  pretended  subject  of  discourse,  ready,  at 
the  same  time,  to  resist  and  prevent  his  inter- 
ference if  he  should  show  himself  inclined  to 
offer  any. 

Things  being  thus  arranged,  the  petitioner, 
as  had  been  agreed,  advanced  to  Caesar  with  his 
petition,  others  coming  up  at  the  same  time  as 


266  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C. 44. 

The  petition.  Caesar  assaulted.  He  resists. 

if  to  second  the  request.  The  object  of  the  pe- 
tition was  to  ask  for  the  pardon  of  the  brother 
of  one  of  the  conspirators.  Caesar  declined 
granting  it.  The  others  then  crowded  around 
him,  urging  him  to  grant  the  request  with  press- 
ing importunities,  all  apparently  reluctant  to 
strike  the  first  blow.  Caesar  began  to  be  alarm- 
ed, and  attempted  to  repel  them.  One  of  them 
then  pulled  down  his  robe  from  his  neck  to  lay 
it  bare.  Caesar  arose,  exclaiming,  "  But  this 
is  violence."  At  the  same  instant,  one  of  the 
conspirators  struck  at  him  with  his  sword,  and 
wounded  him  slightly  in  the  neck. 

All  was  now  terror,  outcry,  and  confusion. 
Caesar  had  no  time  to  draw  his  sword,  but 
fought  a  moment  with  his  style,  a  sharp  in- 
strument of  iron  with  which  they  wrote,  in 
those  days,  on  waxen  tablets,  and  which  he 
happened  then  to  have  in  his  hand.  With  this 
instrument  he  ran  one  of  his  enemies  through 
the  arm. 

This  resistance  was  just  what  was  necessary 
to  excite  the  conspirators,  and  give  them  the 
requisite  resolution  to  finish  their  work.  Caesar 
soon  saw  the  swords,  accordingly,  gleaming  all 
around  him,  and  thrusting  themselves  at  him 
on  every  side.     The  senators  rose  in  confusion 


B.C. 44.]      The  Assassination. 


267 


Caesar  is  overcome. 


Pompey's  statue. 


and  dismay,  perfectly  thunderstruck  at  the 
scene,  and  not  knowing  what  to  do.  Antony 
perceived  that  all  resistance  on  his  part  would 
be  unavailing,  and  accordingly  did  not  attempt 
any.  Csesar  defended  himself  alone  for  a  few 
minutes  as  well  as  he  could,  looking  all  around 
him  in  vain  for  help,  and  retreating  at  the  same 
time  toward  the  pedestal  of  Pompey's  statue. 
At  length,  when  he  saw  Brutus  among  his  mur- 
derers, he  exclaimed,  "And  you  too,  Brutus?" 
and  seemed  from  that  moment  to  give  up  in 
despair.     He  drew  his  robe  over  his  face,  and 


Pompey's  Statue. 


268  Julius  Cesar.  [B.C.  44. 

CfEsar's  death.  Flight  of  the  senators.  Great  commotion. 

soon  fell  under  the  wounds  which  he  received. 
His  blood  ran  out  upon  the  pavement  at  the 
foot  of  Pompey's  statue,  as  if  his  death  were  a 
sacrifice  offered  to  appease  his  ancient  enemy's 
revenge. 

In  the  midst  of  the  scene  Brutus  made  an 
attempt  to  address  the  senators,  and  to  vindi- 
cate what  they  had  done,  but  the  confusion  and 
excitement  were  so  great  that  it  was  impossible 
that  any  thing  could  be  heard.  The  senators 
were,  in  fact,  rapidly  leaving  the  place,  going 
off  in  every  direction,  and  spreading  the  tidings 
over  the  city.  The  event,  of  course,  produced 
universal  commotion.  The  citizens  besran  to 
close  their  shops,  and  some  to  barricade  their 
houses,  while  others  hurried  to  and  fro  about  the 
streets,  anxiously  inquiring  for  intelligence,  and 
wondering  what  dreadful  event  was  next  to 
be  expected.  Antony  and  Lepidus,  who  were 
Caesar's  two  most  faithful  and  influential  friends, 
not  knowing  how  extensive  the  conspiracy  might 
be,  nor  how  far  the  hostility  to  Csesar  and  his 
party  might  extend,  fled,  and,  not  daring  to  go 
to  their  own  houses,  lest  the  assassins  or  their 
confederates  might  pursue  them  there,  sought 
concealment  in  the  houses  of  friends  on  whom 
they  supposed  they  could  rely,  and  who  were 
willing  to  receive  them. 


B.C.  44.]      The  Assassination.  269 

The  conspirators  proceed  to  the  Capitol.  They  glory  in  their  deed. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  conspirators,  glorying 
in  the  deed  which  they  had  perpetrated,  and 
congratulating  each  other  on  the  successful 
issue  of  their  enterprise,  sallied  forth  together 
from  the  senate-house,  leaving  the  body  of  their 
victim  weltering  in  its  blood,  and  marched,  with 
drawn  swords  in  their  hands,  along  the  streets 
from  the  senate-house  to  the  Capitol.  Brutus 
went  at  the  head  of  them,  preceded  by  a  liberty 
cap  borne  upon  the  point  of  a  spear,  and  with 
his  bloody  dagger  in  his  hand.  The  Capitol 
was  the  citadel,  built  magnificently  upon  the 
Capitoline  Hill,  and  surrounded  by  temples,  and 
other  sacred  and  civil  edifices,  which  made  the 
spot  the  architectural  wonder  of  the  world.  As 
Brutus  and  his  company  proceeded  thither,  they 
announced  to  the  citizens,  as  they  went  along, 
the  great  deed  of  deliverance  which  they  had 
wrought  out  for  the  country.  Instead  of  seek- 
ing concealment,  they  gloried  in  the  work  which 
they  had  done,  and  they  so  far  succeeded  in  in- 
spiring others  with  a  portion  of  their  enthusi- 
asm, that  some  men  who  had  really  taken  no 
part  in  the  deed  joined  Brutus  and  his  company 
in  their  march,  to  obtain  by  stealth  a  share  in 
the  glory. 

Tho  body  of  Csesar  lay  for  some  time  un- 


270  Julius  Cjesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Number  of  Caesar's  wounds.  His  slaves  convey  his  body  home. 

heeded  where  it  had  fallen,  the  attention  of 
every  one  being  turned  to  the  excitement,  which 
was  extending  through  the  city,  and  to  the  ex- 
pectation of  other  great  events  which  might  sud- 
denly develop  themselves  in  other  quarters  of 
Rome.  There  were  left  only  three  of  Caesar's 
slaves,  who  gathered  around  the  body  to  look  at 
the  wounds.  They  counted  them,  and  found 
the  number  twenty-three.  It  shows,  however, 
how  strikingly,  and  with  what  reluctance,  the 
actors  in  this  tragedy  came  up  to  their  work  at 
last,  that  of  all  these  twenty-three  wounds  only 
one  was  a  mortal  one.  In  fact,  it  is  probable 
that,  while  all  of  the  conspirators  struck  the 
victim  in  their  turn,  to  fulfill  the  pledge  which 
they  had  given  to  one  another  that  they  would 
every  one  inflict  a  wound,  each  one  hoped  that 
the  fatal  blow  would  be  given,  after  all,  by  some 
other  hand  than  his  own. 

At  last  the  slaves  decided  to  convey  the 
body  home.  They  obtained  a  sort  of  chair, 
which  was  made  to  be  borne  by  poles,  and 
placed  the  body  upon  it.  Then,  lifting  at  the 
three  handles,  and  allowing  the  fourth  to  hang 
unsupported  for  want  of  a  man,  they  bore  the 
ghastly  remains  home  to  the  distracted  Calpur- 
nia. 


B.C. 44.]     The   Assassination.  271 

Address  of  the  conspirators.  Feelings  of  the  populace. 

The  next  day  Brutus  and  his  associates  called 
an  assembly  of  the  people  in  the  Forum,  and 
made  an  address  to  them,  explaining  the  mo- 
tives which  had  led  them  to  the  commission  of 
the  deed,  and  vindicating  the  necessity  and  the 
justice  of  it.  The  people  received  these  expla- 
nations in  silence.  They  expressed  neither  ap- 
probation nor  displeasure.  It  was  not,  in  fact, 
to  be  expected  that  they  would  feel  or  evince 
any  satisfaction  at  the  loss  of  their  master.  He 
had  been  their  champion,  and,  as  they  believed, 
their  friend.  The  removal  of  Caesar  brought 
no  accession  of  power  nor  increase  of  liberty  to 
them.  It  might  have  been  a  gain  to  ambitious 
senators,  or  powerful  generals,  or  high  officers 
of  state,  by  removing  a  successful  rival  out  of 
their  way,  but  it  seemed  to  promise  little  ad- 
vantage to  the  community  at  large,  other  than 
the  changing  of  one  despotism  for  another.  Be- 
sides, a  populace  who  know  that  they  must  be 
governed,  prefer  generally,  if  they  must  sub- 
mit to  some  control,  to  yield  their  submission 
to  some  one  master  spirit  whom  they  can  look 
up  to  as  a  great  and  acknowledged  superior. 
They  had  rather  have  a  Caesar  than  a  Senate 
to  command  them. 

The  higher   authorities,    however,  were,   as 


272  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C. 44. 

Caesar's  will.  Its  provisions. 

might  have  been  expected,  disposed  to  acqui- 
esce in  the  removal  of  Caesar  from  his  intended 
throne.  The  Senate  met,  and  passed  an  act  of 
indemnity,  to  shield  the  conspirators  from  all 
legal  liability  for  the  deed  they  had  done.  In 
order,  however,  to  satisfy  the  people  too,  as  far 
as  possible,  they  decreed  divine  honors  to  Caesar, 
confirmed  and  ratified  all  that  he  had  done  while 
in  the  exercise  of  supreme  power,  and  appointed 
a  time  for  the  funeral,  ordering  arrangements 
to  be  made  for  a  very  pompous  celebration  of  it. 
A  will  was  soon  found,  which  Caesar,  it  seems, 
had  made  some  time  before.  Calpurnia's  father 
proposed  that  this  will  should  be  opened  and 
read  in  public  at  Antony's  house  ;  and  this  was 
accordingly  done.  The  provisions  of  the  will 
were,  many  of  them,  of  such  a  character  as  re- 
newed the  feelings  of  interest  and  sympathy 
which  the  people  of  Rome  had  begun  to  cherish 
for  Caesar's  memory.  His  vast  estate  was  di- 
vided chiefly  among  the  children  of  his  sister, 
as  he  had  no  children  of  his  own,  while  the 
very  men  who  had  been  most  prominent  in 
his  assassination  were  named  as  trustees  and 
guardians  of  the  property ;  and  one  of  them, 
Decimus  Brutus,  the  one  who  had  been  so  ur- 
gent to  conduct  him  to  the  senate-house,  was  a 


B.C. 44]     The   Assassination.  273 

Preparations  for  Caesar's  funeral.  The  Field  of  Mars. 

second  heir.  He  had  some  splendid  gardens 
near  the  Tiber,  which  he  bequeathed  to  the  cit- 
izens of  Rome,  and  a  large  amount  of  money 
also,  to  be  divided  among  them,  sufficient  to 
give  every  man  a  considerable  sum. 

The  time  for  the  celebration  of  the  funeral 
ceremonies  was  made  known  by  proclamation, 
and,  as  the  concourse  of  strangers  and  citizens 
of  Rome  was  likely  to  be  so  great  as  to  forbid 
the  forming  of  all  into  one  procession  without 
consuming  more  than  one  day,  the  various  class- 
es of  the  community  were  invited  to  come,  each 
in  their  own  way,  to  the  Field  of  Mars,  bringing 
with  them  such  insignia,  offerings,  and  obla- 
tions as  they  pleased.     The  Field  of  Mars  was 
an  immense  parade  ground,  reserved  for  mili- 
tary reviews,  spectacles,  and  shows.     A  funeral 
pile  was  erected  here  for  the  burning  of  the  body. 
There  was  to  be  a  funeral  discourse  pronounced, 
and  Marc  Antony  had  been  designated  to  per- 
form this  duty.     The  body  had  been  placed  in 
a  gilded  bed,  under  a  magnificent  canopy  in  the 
form  of  a  temple,  before  the  rostra  where  the 
funeral  discourse  was  to  be  pronounced.     The 
bed  was  covered  with  scarlet  and  cloth  of  gold, 
and  a-t  the  head  of  it  was  laid  the  robe  in  which 
Csesar  had  been  slain.      It  was  stained  with 


274  Julius   Cesar.  [B.C.  44 

Marc  Antony's  oration.  The  funeral  pile. 

blood,  and  pierced  with  the  holes  that  the  swords 
and  daggers  of  the  conspirators  had  made. 

Marc  Antony,  instead  of  pronouncing  a  for- 
mal panegyric  upon  his  deceased  friend,  ordered 
a  crier  to  read  the  decrees  of  the  Senate,  in 
which  all  honors,  human  and  divine,  had  been 
ascribed  to  Csesar.  He  then  added  a  few  words 
of  his  own.  The  bed  was  then  taken  up,  with 
the  body  upon  it,  and  borne  out  into  the  Forum, 
preparatory  to  conveying  it  to  the  pile  which 
had  been  prepared  for  it  upon  the  Field  of  Mars. 
A  question,  however,  here  arose  among  the 
multitude  assembled  in  respect  to  the  proper 
place  for  burning  the  body.  The  people  seemed 
inclined  to  select  the  most  honorable  place  which 
could  be  found  within  the  limits  of  the  city. 
Some  proposed,  a  beautiful  temple  on  the  Capi- 
toline  Hill.  Others  wished  to  take  it  to  the 
senate-house,  where  he  had  been  slain.  The 
Senate,  and  those  who  were  less  inclined  to  pay 
extravagant  honors  to  the  departed  hero,  were 
in  favor  of  some  more  retired  spot,  under  pre- 
tense that  the  buildings  of  the  city  would  be  en- 
dangered by  the  fire.  This  discussion  was  fast 
becoming  a  dispute,  when  it  was  suddenly  ended 
by  two  men,  with  swords  at  their  sides  and 
lances  in  their  hands,  forcing  their  way  through 


B.C.  44.]     The   Assassination.  277 

The~body  burned  in  the  Forum.  The  conflagration. 

the  crowd  with  Tignted  torches,  and  setting  the 
bed  and  its  canopy  on  fire  where  it  lay. 

This  settled  the  question,  and  the  whole  com- 
pany were  soon  in  the  wildest  excitement  with 
the  work  of  building  up  a  funeral  pile  upon  the 
spot.     At  first  they  brought  fagots  and  threw 
upon  the  fire,  then  benches  from  the  neighbor- 
ing courts  and  porticoes,  and  then  any  thing 
combustible  which  came  to  hand.     The  honor 
done  to  the  memory  of  a  deceased  hero  was,  in 
some  sense,  in  proportion  to  the  greatness  of  his 
funeral  pile,  and  all  the  populace  on  this  oc- 
casion began   soon  to  seize  every  thing  they 
could  find,  appropriate  and  unappropriate,  pro- 
vided that  it  would  increase  the  flame.      The 
soldiers  threw  on  their  lances  and  spears,  the 
musicians  their  instruments,  and  others  stripped 
off  the  cloths  and  trappings  from  the  furniture 
of  the  procession,  and  heaped  them  upon  the 
burning  pile. 

So  fierce  and  extensive  was  the  fire,  that  it 
spread  to  some  of  the  neighboring  houses,  and 
required  great  efforts  to  prevent  a  general  con- 
flagration. The  people,  too,  became  greatly  ex- 
cited by  the  scene.  They  lighted  torches  by  the 
fire,  and  went  to  the  houses  of  Brutus  and  Cas- 
sius,  threatening  vengeance  upon  them  for  the 


278  Julius   Cjssar.  [B.C. 44. 

Cuesar's  monument  The  comet. 

murder  of  Caesar.  The  authorities  succeeded, 
though  with  infinite  difficulty,  in  protecting 
Brutus  and  Cassius  from  the  violence  of  the 
mob,  but  they  seized  one  unfortunate  citizen 
of  the  name  of  Cinna,  thinking  it  a  certain 
Cinna  who  had  been  known  as  an  enemy  of 
Caesar.  They  cut  off  his  head,  notwithstanding 
his  shrieks  and  cries,  and  carried  it  about  the 
city  on  the  tip  of  a  pike,  a  dreadful  symbol  of 
their  hostility  to  the  enemies  of  Caesar.  As 
frequently  happens,  however,  in  such  deeds  of 
sudden  violence,  these  hasty  and  lawless  aven- 
gers found  afterward  that  they  had  made  a 
mistake,  and  beheaded  the  wrong  man. 

The  Roman  people  erected  a  column  to  the 
memory  of  Caesar,  on  which  they  placed  the  in- 
scription, "  To  the  Father  of  his  Country." 
They  fixed  the  figure  of  a  star  upon  the  summit 
of  it,  and  some  time  afterward,  while  the  people 
were  celebrating  some  games  in  honor  of  his 
memory,  a  great  comet  blazed  for  seven  nights 
in  the  sky,  which  they  recognized  as  the  mighty 
hero's  soul  reposing  in  heaven. 


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A  Tale  for  Mothers  and  Daughters.  By  Grace  Aguilar. 
12mo,  Muslin,  81  00  ;  Paper,  75  cents 

The  author's  intention  in  this  volume  is  to  aid  in  educating  the  heart 
— an  object  which  must  commend  itself  to  all  who  have  the  Christian 
faith,  and  all  who  hope  and  believe  that  the  world  may,  by  kindly  influ 
ences,  be  transformed  from  a  world  of  warring  passions  to  one  of  love* 
and  faith,  and  hope. — Cincinnati  Journal. 

®l}e  Image  of  fyis  iFatlier. 

A  Tale  of  a  Young  Monkey.  By  the  Brothers  Mavhew. 
With  Illustrations.  12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents ;  Paper, 
50  cents. 

Sportively  sarcastic  and  humorous,  it  touches  off  very  graphically 
many  follies  of  the  day. —  Baltimore  American. 

A  very  witty  production  of  those  distinguished  comic  writers,  the  Broth- 
ers Mayhew,  two  of  the  most  celebrated  disciples  uf  the  "  Punch  School  " 
— Spirit  of  the  Times. 

tendering  ^eigrjts. 

By  A.  Bell.     12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents  ;  Paper,  50  cents. 

We  strongly  recommend  all  our  readers  who  love  novelty  to  get  this 
Btory,  for  we  can  promise  them  that  they  never  read  anything  like  it  be 
fore.— Douglas  Jerrold. 


Popular  Literature  Published  by  Harper  <$-  Brothers.     3 

(2Mb  $ick0  tlje  (ftitioe; 

Or,  Adventures  in  the  Camanche  Country  in  Search  of  a 
Gold  Mine.  By  C.  W.  Webber.  12mo,  Muslin,  fl  00  ; 
Paper,  75  cents. 

It  has  incidents  enough  for  a  score  of  novels.— Mirror. 
Here  is  a  book  to  stir  a  fever  in  the  blood  of  age.     Full  of  wild  adven- 
tures, and  running  over  with  life.— Graham- s  Magazine. 

&bt)entttres  in  Mc%ko  anb  the  Bock^ 
illountaina. 

By  G.  Ruxton.     12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents  ;  Paper,  50  cents. 

Crowded  with  the  wildest  adventures,  it  has  that  reality  which  makes 
Melville's  "  South  Seas"  so  charming  and  fresh.  It  has  none  of  the 
homeliness  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  but  the  adventures  are  as  startling  — 
London  Economist. 

t)  anitij)  iFair; 

Or,  Pen  and  Pencil  Sketches  of  English  Society.  By  W. 
M.  Thackeray.  With  Illustrations  by  the  Author. 
8vo,  Muslin,  $1  25  ;  Paper,  $1  00. 

He  is  the  prince  of  etchers  and  sketchers.  His  genius  is  environed 
with  a  warm  and  glowing  atmosphere  of  fine  feeling  and  cultivated  fan- 
cies—light, playful,  kindling,  acting  upon  the  imagination  and  heart  of 
the  reader  with  a  secret  but  irresistible  influence.  A  humor,  remarkable 
for  its  geniality,  illumes  and  vivifies  every  page.— Dickens's  Daily  News 

Qtt)t  Children  of  ttje  Nm  iForest. 

By  Captain  Marryat.  12mo,  Muslin,  50  cents;  Paper, 
37$  cents. 

The  author's  facility  of  description  has  here  brought  out  a  romance 
which  will  freshen  the  recollections  of  his  former  fame  in  the  mind  of 
the  public. — Springfield  Gazette. 

&l)e  Stortj  of  tlje  peninsular  toar. 

By  General  Charles  W.  Vane,  Marquess  of  Londonder- 
ry. New  Edition,  revised,  with  considerable  Additions. 
12mo,  Muslin,  $1  00 ;  Paper,,  75  cents. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  publication  to  present  what  has  long  been  a  de- 
sideratum—a Complete  History  of  the  Peninsular  War  down  to  the  peace 
of  1814,  in  the  smallest  possible  compass,  and  at  so  moderate  a  cost  as 
to  be  accessible  to  all  classes  of  readers  ;  it  will  be  regarded  as  an  indis- 
pensable companion  to  The  Story  of  the  Battle  of  Waterloo.— Athenaum. 


4     Popular  Literature  Published  by  Harper  c\  Brothers 

Coiterings  in  (Europe; 

Or,  Sketches  of  Travel  in  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland, 
Italy,  Austria,  Prussia,  Great  Britain,  and  Ireland. 
With  an  Appendix,  containing  Observations  on  Euro- 
pean Charities  and  Medical  Institutions.  By  J.  W. 
Corson,  M.D.     12mo,  Muslin,  $1  00  ;  Paper,  75  cents. 

The  author  evidently  wrote  just  as  he  traveled,  with  a  perfect  over- 
flowing of  enthusiasm.  The  impressions  which  he  received,  and  which 
he  communicates  to  the  reader,  have  all  the  minute  fidelity  of  the  da- 
guerreotype as  to  form,  while  the  author's  imagination  imparts  to  them 
those  natural  hues  which  are  beyond  the  reach  of  that  art.— Journal  of 
Commerce. 

(Efye  Battle  of  jBuetta  bista, 

With  the  Operations  of  the  "Army  of  Occupation"  for 
One  Month  By  Captain  Carletox.  12mo,  Muslin, 
75  cents;  Paper,  50  cents. 

The  best  description  that  has  yet  appeared  of  one  of  the  most  distin 
guished  battles  fought  during  the  Mexican  campaign.  We  read  it  through 
from  title-pa^e  to  Colaphon  with  unabated  interest.  Its  style  is  simple 
and  pure,  and  its  pictures  vivid  in  a  marked  degree. — Knickerbocker. 

Iftan  anb  Ijis  illotbes. 

By  G.  Moore,  M.D.  12mo,  Muslin.  50  cents. 
Dr.  Moore  is  one  of  the  very  best  writers  of  the  day.  He  is  both  « 
practical  and  a  philosophical  physician,  and  he  derives  much  advantage 
in  developing  the  spiritual  as  well  as  physical  nature  of  man,  from  the 
practice  of  his  own  profession.  This  is  the  third  of  his  works,  all  of  which 
have  been  placed  by  intelligent  readers  in  the  first  class  of  modern  liter 
ature  and  philosophy. — Cincinnati  Herald. 

GUje  tenant  of  toilbfell  flail. 

By  A.  Bell.     12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents  ;  Paper,  50  cents 

It  is  by  all  odds  the  best  temperance  story  we  ever  read.  It  is  diffi- 
cult not  to  believe  in  the  reality  of  the  scene.  You  can  not  doubt  that 
it  is  an  actual  copy  of  life.  You  forget  you  are  reading  a  romance,  and 
put  just  as  much  trust  in  the  narration  as  if  it  were  told  of  your  next 
door  neighbors.  To  produce  this  effect  completely  is,  we  take  it,  the 
highest  success  of  a  novelist. — Mirror. 

^orjo  anb  &l)eu. 

A  Tale.     By  S.  Warren.     12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents ;  Pa- 
per, 50  cents. 
Dr.  Warren's  skill  is  of  a  peculiar  kind  ;  it  is  earnest  and  emphatic 

This  tale  excites  strong  interest. — Athenceum. 


Popular  Literature  Published  by  Harper  <fr  Brothers.     5 

&l)e  Stoiss  Jamilu  ftobinsott; 

Or,  Adventures  of  a  Father  and  Mother  and  Four  Sons 
on  a  Desert  Island.  Being  a  Continuation  of  the  Work 
published  some  years  since  under  this  Title.  2  vols. 
18mo,  Muslin.     75  cents. 

Every  one  will  remember  the  first  two  volumes  of  this  charming  story 
for  children,  and,  of  course,  be  desirous  to  see  the  conclusion.  The 
present  volumes  are  quite  as  interesting  as  the  former.—  Godey's  Mag. 

The  first  two  Volumes  of  the  same  work  may  still  be 
had.     2  vols.  18mo,  Muslin.     62£  cents. 

GLtyz  (ftooo  (ftntius  tijat  tttrtwb  (&vzxq  &l)ino, 
into  <&o[b; 

Or,  the  Queen  Bee  and  the  Magic  Dress.  A  Christmas 
Fairy  Tale.  By  the  Brothers  Mayhew.  Engravings. 
18mo,  Muslin,  gilt  edges,  45  cents  ;  Muslin,  plain,  37£ 
cents  ;  Fancy  paper  covers,  37^  cents. 

This  is  a  most  charming  little  fairy  tale,  written  with  singular  beauty 
and  spirit,  and  inculcating  the  duty  of  industry. 

QDmoo;  or,  a  Narrative  of  Qbvzntnvzs  in 
tl)e  Sontl)  Bcas. 

By  H.  Melville.     12mo,  Muslin,  $1  25  ;  Paper,  81  00. 

Musing  the  other  day  over  our  matinal  hyson,  we  suddenly  found  our- 
selves in  the  entertaining  society  of  Marquesan  Melville,  the  phcfinix  of 
modern  voyasrers,  sprung,  it  would  seem,  from  the  mingled  ashes  of  Cap- 
tain Cook  and  Robinson  Crusoe  The  title  signifies  a  rover;  the  book 
is  excellent,  quite  first-rate. — Blackwood. 

£ife  of  Jttabame  (Eatl)arine  &oorna. 

Including  some  leading  Facts  and  Traits  in  her  Religious 
Experience.  Together  with  Explanations  and  Re- 
marks, tending  to  Illustrate  the  Doctrine  of  Holiness. 
By  T.  C.  Upham,  D.D.  12mo,  Muslin,  gilt  edges,  60 
cents  ;  Muslin,  plain,  50  cents. 

This  is  a  very  curious  piece  of  biography  ;  the  sources  from  which  it 
has  been  principally  derived  were  the  manuscript  notes  of  Madame  Ador- 
na's  confessor,  Marabotti.  She  lived  during  the  latter  half  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  and  was  a  remarkable  instance  of  exemplary  piety  and 
eminent  moral  worth.  The  story  of  her  life  presents  a  rare  and  highly 
interesting  chapter  in  the  records  of  religious  experience. 


6     Popular  Literature  Published  by  Harper  cf  Brothers 

Conner's  poetical  toorks. 

Illustrated  by  Seventy-five  exquisite  Designs.  With  a 
Biographical  and  Critical  Introduction  by  Rev.  Thomas 
Dale.  2  vols.  8vo,  Turkey  Morocco,  gilt  edges,  $5  00  , 
Imitation  Morocco,  gilt  edges,  $4  25 ;  Muslin,  gilt 
edges,  S3  75. 

Cowper  has  long-  been  regarded  as  the  favorite  Christian  poet:  hi* 
muse  devoted  to  the  inculcation  of  the  domestic  virtues  and  the  sublim* 
truths  of  religion,  will  ever  take  elevated  rank  among  the  great  classic, 
of  the  language. 

Cife  of  tlje  (JTljeualier  jBanaro. 

By  W.  Gilmore  Simms.  With  Engravings.  12mo,  Mus 
lin.     $1  00. 

The  present  production  is  the  most  valuable  that  has  appeared  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Simms,  and  will  do  more  than  all  his  preceding  works  ti 
establish  his  reputation.  It  displays  considerable  research  into  the  his 
tory  of  the  period  to  which  it  relates,  and  is  clothed  with  all  the  fascina 
tion  which  beauty  of  style  and  chivalric  adventure  can  throw  around  it 
— Literary  Register. 

®l)£  discipline  of  Cife. 

8vo,  Paper.     25  cents 

This  work  is  intended  to  show  how  much  of  happiness  depends  on  self 
discipline  ;  and  it  can  not  fail  to  place  the  authoress  in  the  first  rank  of 
female  novelists.  It  contains  passages  of  great  beauty  and  pathos,  evi 
dently  written  by  one  who  thinks  much  and  feels  deeply,  and  impresse.* 
us  with  a  high  idea  of  the  talent  of  the  author. — Britannica. 

Since  Miss  Austin  ceased  to  write,  and  Mrs.  Marsh  began,  we  hav» 
had  no  other  story-telling  of  its  class  that  we  would  place  upon  a  levej 
with  this  for  freshness  and  truth  of  love  and  feeling.— London  Examiner 

Brothers  axib  Sisters. 

A  Tale  of  Domestic  Life.  By  Fredrira  Bremer.  Trans 
lated  from  the  Original  unpublished  Manuscript,  by 
Mary  Howitt.     8vo,  Paper.     25  cents. 

''Brothers  and  Sisters"  will  share  in  the  popularity  the  author's  for 
mer  works  have  acquired,  as  it  possesses  the  like  qualities. — Chronicle. 

iljarolo,  tlje  Cast  of  tlje  Sajeon  Kings. 

By  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lvtton.     8 vo,  Paper.     50  cents 

A  splendid  effort,  combining  all  the  brilliancy  of  his  genius  with  tb« 
laborious  research  of  his  best  productions ;  as  a  drama  of  real  life,  it  n 
perhaps  unsurpassed  by  any  similar  work  of  the  age  — Mirror. 


popular  toork© 

ON  EDUCATION,  RHETORIC,  ETC. 

PUBLISHED    BY 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 

Alison  on  the  Nature  and  Principles  of 

Taste.  With  Corrections  and  Improvements,  by 
Abraham  Mills.     12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents. 

Beecher's  (Miss)  Address. 

The  Evils  suffered  by  American  Women  and  Amer- 
ican Children :  the  Causes  and  the  Remedy.  Pre- 
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cinnati, Washington,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New- 
York,  and  other  Cities.  Also,  an  Address  to  the 
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12i  cents. 

Boyd's  Elements  of  Rhetoric  and  Liter- 
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guage, and  of  British  and  American  Literature,  from 
the  earliest  to  the  present  Times.  18mo,  half  Bound, 
50  cents. 

Burke  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful. 

A  Philosophical  Inquiry  into  the  Origin  of  our  Ideas 
of  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful.  With  an  introductory 
Discourse  concerning  Taste.  Edited  by  A.  Mills. 
12mo,  Muslin,  75  cents. 

Campbell's  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric. 

Revised  Edition.     12mo,  Muslin,  $1  25. 

Dick  on  the  Improvement  of  Society  by 

the  Diffusion  of  Knowledge.     18mo,  Muslin,  45  cents. 


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Duty  of   American    Women    to    their 

Country.     18rao,  Muslin,  37?  cents. 

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cation.  By  Richard  Lovell  Edgeworth  and  Maria 
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Everett's  Importance  of  Practical  Edu- 
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Family  Instructor ; 

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Parent.     18mo,  Muslin,  45  cents. 

Johnson's   (A.  B.)  Lectures   to  Young 

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Johnson's  (A.  B.)  Treatise  on  Language ; 

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Mill's  Logic,  Ratiocinative  and  Induct- 
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8vo,  Muslin,  $2  00. 

The  School  and  the  Schoolmaster. 

The  School;  its  Objects,  Relations,  and  Uses.  With 
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Smith's  History  of  Education. 

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Nott's  Counsels  to  Young  Men. 

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fjatpcfs  Keu>  tHatalcgue, 

A  new  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  Harper  &  Broth- 
ers' Publications,  embracing  the  most  recent  of  their 
issues,  is  now  ready  for  distribution,  and  may  be  obtained 
gratuitously  on  application  to  the  publishers  personally, 
or  by  letter,  post-paid. 

The  attention  of  gentlemen,  in  town  or  country,  de- 
signing to  form  Libraries  or  enrich  their  literary  collec- 
tions, is  respectfully  invited  to  this  Catalogue,  which  will 
be  found  to  comprise  a  large  proportion  of  the  standard 
and  most  esteemed  works  in  English  Literature — com- 
prehending about  two  thousand  volumes — which  are 
offered  in  most  instances  at  less  than  one  half  the  cost 
of  similar  productions  in  England. 

To  Librarians  and  others  connected  with  Colleges, 
Schools,  etc.,  who  may  not  have  access  to  a  reliable 
guide  in  forming  the  true  estimate  of  literary  produc- 
tions, it  is  believed  the  present  Catalogue  will  prove  es- 
pecially valuable  as  a  manual  of  reference. 

To  prevent  disappointment,  it  is  suggested  that,  when- 
ever books  can  not  be  obtained  through  any  bookseller  or 
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> 


